Urban Gaze
A crowdsourced visualisation of a province through the eyes of its citizens
The brief
The Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) asked Breinstorm Brand Architects (BBA) to initiate a programme that would crowdsource the visualisation of a province through the eyes of its citizens as a form of action research.
The transformation
Conceptualising Urban Gaze
BBA conceptualised Urban Gaze, a documentary photography competition open to all residents of the Gauteng City-Region (GCR) above the age of 18. BBA added the Keyes Art Mile and Fujifilm as partners on the project as secondary sponsors.
Execution and management
The project was geared at opening up the photography space for emerging photographers and creating a database of images to use in the GCRO’s research publications and online platforms.
BBA managed the competition and exhibition on behalf of the GCRO.
Exhibition
An exhibition of finalists was held at Keyes Art Mile in Rosebank, Johannesburg. The exhibition featured photographs by all the successful entrants, alongside the overall winner and five winners in each of the competition's categories. Together these works offer a fascinating and intimate lens into the places, people and issues that make up the Gauteng City Region.
An outstanding showcase of new documentary photography by young, local photographers who capture contemporary stories that are specific to the Gauteng.
Overall winner
Overall winner: Mokone Mphela
Category A: Histories and Futures
Finalist: Alastair Mclachlan
Finalist: Sanet Oberholzer
Winner: Jaco Roets
Finalist: Kamogelo Lebotse
Category B: Place and Movement
Finalist: Alastair Mclachlan
Finalist: Alastair Mclachlan
Finalist: Kirsty Mackay
Winner: Kgao Bonaventure Mashego
Category C: Economy and Economic Life
Winner: Alastair Maclachlan
Finalist: Alastair Maclachlan
Finalist: Mark Lewis
Finalist: Harikrishnan Sasikumar
Category D: Sustainability and the Environment
Winner: Mark Lewis
Finalist: Cebisile Mbonani
Finalist: Alastair Maclachlan
Finalist: Alastair Maclachlan
Category E: A Province and its People
Finalist: Cebisile Mbonani
Finalist: Thandeka Zwane
Finalist: Simon Wolfson
Winner: Thato Mabaso
The validation of purpose
5 categories
For photographers to enter their work into
50
Finalists
15 million+
Residents of the Gauteng City Region