Lard Buurman

In African cities, life takes place on the streets, where public and private spheres blend. A sidewalk inconspicuously becomes a family kitchen or is suddenly transformed into a shop. A traffic jam might mean delay for one and work and a lucrative income for the other. Metropolises in Africa are characterized by informal structures and the art of improvisation; their colonial pasts have left marks that continue into the present in the form of social inequality and bad governance. The photographs by Lard Buurman (*1969 in Zeist) capture the African city as a site of permanent change and incessant encounter. The images are the result of combining several snapshots in time into a single scene, enabling the viewer to take in vibrant urban space. The eighty photographs are accompanied by essays from different authors that reflect on the African city and on the work of the Dutch photographer from different perspectives.