Africa Is a Country

Photography: 'New Men'

Photography: 'New Men'

By
Sean Jacobs

[slideshow]

From new work by Cape Town-based photographer Araminta de Clarmont. A photo series on ikrwala (young Xhosa initiates) posing in new clothes–symbolizing their status as “new men”–after returning from initiation school. De Clarmont photographed the young men, who all still attend high school, in the classrooms where they get a formal education: “… As their suits demand instant respect – so too do the men wearing them. Yet what may be the validity of believing in a fresh start, when one’s surroundings have not changed as one has oneself?“

Further Reading

No one should be surprised we exist

The documentary film, ‘Rolé—Histórias dos Rolezinhos’ by Afro-Brazilian filmmaker Vladimir Seixas uses sharp commentary to expose social, political, and cultural inequalities within Brazilian society.

Kenya’s stalemate

A fundamental contest between two orders is taking place in Kenya. Will its progressives seize the moment to catalyze a vision for social, economic, and political change?

More than a building

The film ‘No Place But Here’ uses VR or 360 media to immerse a viewer inside a housing occupation in Cape Town. In the process, it wants to challenge gentrification and the capitalist logic of home ownership.