Wildlife & Nature Shortlist

A few years ago, an old retirement home in my neighbourhood was demolished to make way for a larger home for the aged. However, the construction has been delayed and the plot of land left to its own devices. An array of weeds has now sprung up among the rubble, interweaving with the wild growth of the surviving flora of the original gardens. High walls hide the plot from the busy streets that surround it, but the presence of humans is evident in the scattering of wind-blown rubbish that rests amongst the foliage. This still feels like a protected space, though, and has even become home to a colony of bees.

The old retirement home was called Arcadia Place, a name that suggests a peaceful pastoral setting. This seems even more appropriate now, although construction will eventually begin and this inadvertent sanctuary will come to an end.

I am an artist from Cape Town, South Africa, and I use photography to explore the tenuous relationship between humans and the world around us. I’ve held nine solo exhibitions and taken part in numerous group shows both locally and abroad.