I first discovered Lebohang Kganye’s work through the black-and-white photographs taken from her series Ke Lefa Laka, where Kganye photographed herself wearing an oversized black suit and hat, posing in front of cardboard cutouts. They were at once surprising and touching.
A presentation of the series by her mentors, the artist Mary Sibande and the curator Nontobeko Ntombela, helped me gain a more refined understanding of the work: “Kganye’s project is about the search for identity, not only racial identity, but also her ethnic genealogy and the complexity of life in Johannesburg, a hybrid society, as a young black woman in post-Apartheid society.”
Born in 1990 in Katlehong on the East Rand of Johannesburg, Kganye trained at the prestigious Market Photo Workshop. She is currently a student at the University of Fine Arts in Johannesburg. In 2012, thanks to the Tierney Fellowship, given to young photographers, Kganye made the series Ke Lefa Laka with the help of Marie Sibande and Nontobeko Ntombela.
Read the full article on the French version of The Eye
