Breaking the cycle - a photography project

When I started with this project, I had no idea where I was headed. The brief tasked us with creating photographic essay about our meaningful diptych that speaks on our social identity and lived experiences. My culture and heritage had been so normalised and imprinted in me that I had not picked up that it was culture.

There was a few questions we had to answer about ourselves.

My cultural heritage is a combination of old and new school. There are classic things we do together such as eating and praying. On Sundays, we sit by the dinner table and have a traditional home cooked meal. However, there are new school ways my family integrated when raising me as they did not want to raise me exactly as their parents did. They wanted a different and better relationship with their child based on trust, respect and appreciation. So, I was not wacked or shouted at, but rather given an explanation as to why what I did was wrong. We would talk, communicate and make decisions together. It was very inclusive. As a result, my parents are involved in my life, and I know I can always rely on them. Even though we do not follow the old generation's ways, we are still coloured.

Nowadays we no longer have a 'man of the house' or 'the breadwinner', roles are split evenly, and income is generated from both parties in the marriage. Due to me being coloured, in the 21st century and the cultural background behind it, I get a neutral perspective on the world around me. The older generation of coloured people experienced apartheid, not me. However, as coloureds, we persevere and work harder to rise above. We want to prove ourselves, make our culture known and proud. I am proud to say that as coloured, we are driven and motivated.

There are three things that make up the historical landscape of my racial, cultural identity and heritage.

Firstly, we have curly hair. In the past and today still, coloured people are known for their curly hair. In the past we were ashamed and would straighten our hair to hide that we were different. However, nowadays curly hair is celebrated, glorified, and envied. Coloured people have stepped out of their shell and began to be at peace with their hair texture. Some are still old school and prefer to straighten their hair.

Secondly, a man being the bread winner is no longer the case, as I previously mentioned. The role of bread winner is now split between two spouses. It is the new school way of operating, as equals.

Thirdly, there are now equal work opportunities that would not have been imaginable during apartheid.

All these answers guided me to my concept, as well as the feedback from my lecturer and classmates. My concept is about how after apartheid, the coloured community can finally persevere. It took three generations but the cycle is finally broken. We're in a good place and can be proud of where we are because of where we started out. The ring on my finger in the first portrait shows how we always knew and had faith that this day would come. The second portrait is extending the conversation from the first portrait, showing the viewer what isn't shown in the first portrait. I used my family because I have a strong connection with them. I value my family. After deciding I was going to do a family portrait for the first diptych, I researched Masahisa Fukase to get inspiration on how to properly carry out this portrait. The themes present in my project is pride, love, sacrifice and trust. The walls in the first portrait are at my grandmother's house, the colour is very similar to the walls in my own room. It created a wonderful full circle moment, showing where we started and where we are now.