The merciless pursuit of a life that fits into societal notions of normalcy can sometimes cause us to forget to take stock of every moment, or to pay attention to how the passing of time alters our humanity. In a way, one could say that each passing minute, every breath taken, constitute the ink falling into the pages of our lived archives and writing the stories of our time on earth. Photography, in some ways, is an art form of the afterward. Photographers often have the time to look at the images they make – and the meanings attached to these images – only in retrospect.
Life as we know it tends to be the same. In a world of fleeting moments that turn into memories, we often find ourselves rushing through the present and into the future so we can look back at the present as past. Johannesburg-based photographer Ngidi Thandolwemfundo challenges this notion with a body of work, titled In-Between (2019–), that turns a lens on the past that was at one point the present. He explores his journey into fatherhood, and how this specific change has made him the man and artist he is today. The work creates an important conversation about a boy who must become a man, and a man who must become a father, all in one lifetime. In a country like South Africa, where a volatile, colonial past has rendered many Black men unable to grow into fathers, Ngidi’s work is a fresh perspective on the importance of reconciling past and present and utilising time as an archiving tool.