Dawid Loubser

When people see my photographs, I'd like for them to glimpse the symbolic patterns, arrangements, and underlying stories that I can't stop seeing. As a thread woven through all my life experiences, I aspire to provide a photographic backdrop for understanding and interpretation about our times which are still yet to be made.

I like to challenge the everyday in terms of composition, and tone. I primarily work with monochrome film, printed by hand on silver-gelatin paper. When I work with these media, I am reminded that photography - and I as photographer - are part of this physical world that I capture, and not merely a disconnected record of it. Every piece of film was there with me, every ray of light traveling towards my print deflected by my hands. Every picture a structurally non-manipulated representation of what was there.

My current work focuses on the expression of emotions and symbolism in non-human subjects, and of capturing daily life in South Africa from the uniquely uncomfortable position of a priviledged technology professional in an environment that actively opresses the minority group that I find myself in. After two traumatic and life-threatening crime experiences, I started capturing unbiased, tiny slices of life around me on film as a reminder that we are all one, sharing one future in this utterly remarkable world.