Sibusiso Gcaba

In this personal collection, Sibusiso Gcaba invites viewers to join him in his journey of liberation from the confines of familiarity and prescribed identity. Gcaba’s body of work, made on residency in Durban, offers new ways of seeing familiar tourist sites, building structures and people. His work presents a sojourner’s experience of a city he does not reside in, but longs for because of his familial ties to rural areas beyond the CBD’s confines through his ancestry. This series reveals back a self-portrait of the photographer’s inner seekings. Gcaba’s photographic process is driven by intuition and emotion. From the moment of making an image to minimal post-production adjustments (often done on the camera’s editing settings), Gcaba’s focus remains on authenticity and the translation of emotion into visual form. As he immersed himself in the coastal landscapes of Durban central, Gcaba reflects that his senses were always heightened, as his spirit was attuned to the subtle energies of his surroundings. Amidst moments of solitude walking the city, he found connection with the city’s environment. Waves of melancholy would wash over him, reminding him of the distance from his familiar “home”. In this series, recurring motifs emerge in Gcaba’s photographs: Night is omnipresent and often envelopes his scenes, with shadows that start to blur these imaginative boundaries of worlds as his images present the nocturnal side of eThekwini with its moonlight and solitude. Surveillance lurks as a silent observer in an urban setting, challenging notions of privacy and autonomy. Movement often breaks through these silences which brings us back to the restless energy of a city in flux, where every step plays with the past and present. In his presentations of the city, Youth and its energy offers a beat that echoes the dreams, hopefulness and aspirations of a generation coming of age. And in moments of solace, amidst the thrum of the city, Gcaba finds refuge in the embrace of solitude, where the stillness speaks, and the soul finds its sanctuary. In this series, Gcaba offers his self-reflections on tensions with urbanity and home , inviting viewers to contemplate the intersections of his personhood in relation to physical place and personal history.

Kulombhalo oqondene naye, uSibusiso Gcaba umema ababukeli ukuba bahlanganyele naye ohambweni lwakhe lokukhululeka ezinkingeni zokujwayeleka nasekuzaziseni. Umsebenzi kaGcaba, owakhelwe endaweni yaseThekwini, unikeza izindlela ezintsha zokubona izindawo ezijwayelekile zezivakashi, izakhiwo kanye nabantu. Umsebenzi wakhe uveza okuke wahlangabezana nakho njengomhambi, ngedolobha angahlali kulo, kodwa alilangazelelayo ukuhlala kulo, kepha akwenzeki ngenxa yobudlelwano bakhe nomndeni kanye nozalo lwakho endaweni yasemakhaya. Lolu chungechunge luveza isithombe somthwebuli wezithombe ezidlinzela ngaphakathi. UGcaba usebenzisa imizwa nokuzwa ukuqondisa indlela akathatha ngayo izithombe. Kusukela ngesikhathi sokwenza isithombe kuya ekulungisweni okuncane kwangemuva kokukhiqizwa (ngokuvamile okwenziwa emalungiselelweni okuhlela kwekhamera), uGcaba ugxile eqinisweni nasekuhumusheni imizwa ibe yindlela yokubuka. Ngesikhathi ecwila ezindaweni ezisogwini olumaphakathi neTheku, uGcaba ukhombisa ukuthi ingqondo yakhe yayihlale iphakeme, njengoba umoya wakhe wawuhambisana namandla afihlekile endaweni yakhe. Phakathi nezikhathi zokuba yedwa ehamba edolobheni, wathola ukuxhumana nemvelo yedolobha. Amagagasi okudangala ayemkhukhumeza, emkhumbuza ibanga esuka “ekhaya” lakhe alijwayele. Kulolu chungechunge, izithombe eziphindaphindayo ziyavela ezithombeni zikaGcaba: Ubusuku bukhona yonke indawo futhi buvama ukuvala izigcawu zakhe, kube nezithunzi eziqala ukufiphalisa le mingcele yezwe njengoba izithombe zakhe ziveza uhlangothi lwasebusuku lweTheku nokukhanya kwenyanga nokuba yedwa. Ukugadwa kucasha njengesibukeli esithule endaweni yasedolobheni, imibono eyinselele yobumfihlo kanye nokuzimela. Umnyakazo uvame ukudlula kulokhu kuthula okusibuyisela emandleni angaphumuli edolobha elishintshashintshayo, lapho isigaba ngasinye sidlala nesikhathi esedlule nesamanje. Ezethulweni zakhe zedolobha, Intsha namandla ayo inikeza isigqi esinanela amaphupho, ithemba kanye nezifiso zesizukulwane esizayo. Kwathi ngezikhathi zenduduzo, phakathi kwesiphithiphithi sedolobha, uGcaba uthola ukukhosela ekugoneni ukuhlala yedwa, lapho kukhuluma, ukuthula nomphefumulo kuthola indawo yakho engcwele. Kulolu chungechunge, uGcaba uveza imibono yakhe mayelana nokungezwani kwabantu basemadolobheni nasemakhaya, emema ababukeli ukuba bacabangele ukuphambana kobuntu bakhe mayelana nendawo kanye nomlando wakhe.