Description
Book SynopsisWriter Tanya Zack and photographer Mark Lewis offer a stunning portrait of Johannesburg and personal stories of its residents, showing how its urban transformation occurs not in a series of dramatic, widescale changes but in the everyday lives, actions, and dreams of individuals.
Trade Review"These pieces are sometimes sad, sometimes inspiring, and add up to a complicated picture of a city of contradictions. . . .
Wake Up, This Is Joburg tells its range of interesting stories well, through on-the-ground reporting, with ample interviews and context, letting a variety of people around Johannesburg talk about both the struggles and successes of everyday life in the inner city."
-- Jeff Fleischer * Foreword *
"Wake Up, This Is Joburg effectively frames Johannesburg as one of the continent’s most important entrepôts where people journey from various nodes of the country and continent to earn a decent living. Rather than criminalise their activities, these stories provoke readers to ‘wake up’ and pay attention to those who make this city a fascinating but enigmatic place to live." -- Denise L. Lim * Urban Studies *
"There is rich nuance in Tanya Zack’s flowing, sensitive narrative and Mark Lewis’s striking photography. The stories they tell are deeply human and individualised, yet cleverly interwoven within Johannesburg’s broader racial, social and economic anomalies. . . . This is an extraordinary book, with beautiful, powerful photographs and a sensitive, robust and accessible narrative. It provides a fresh perspective on life, struggle, survival, creativity and uniqueness in one of Africa’s major cities." -- Chris Heymans * litnet *
"As a collection of salient imagery and anecdotes, the book is a poignant refutation of the cultural anger gripping White South African communities, and a visually arresting plea to recognise the city as an important cosmopolitan hub. As South Africa’s metropoles continue to undergo major political change,
Wake Up, This Is Joburg is a critical reminder that it is the barriers to integration constructed by the white political class that have created the country’s political woes." -- Joe Konieczny * Visual Studies *
Table of ContentsForeword. True Places / Achal Prabhala ix
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
1. S’kop 27
2. Tony Dreams in Yellow and Blue 53
3. Inside Out 81
4. Zola 115
5. Good Riddance 143
6. Tea at Anstey’s 175
7. Bedroom 211
8. Master Mansions 241
9. Johannesburg. Made in China 271
10. Undercity 305
References 337
Index 339
