Gallery: Meet the Characters of an Iconic (And Controversial) South African High-Rise
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky01LON135521
From Sobotzky’s series of elevator portraits in Ponte City. “It was a good way to get to know people, feeling our way around the building. We would make a print and bring it back to the apartment.”
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky02LON161117
View of Ponte City from the neighborhood of Hillbrow below. The billboard that tops the building is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky03LON161125
View from ground floor of the hollow core of Ponte City. The debris pile was made by the developers during the remodel, not by residents who couldn’t be bothered to take out the trash.
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky04LON161108
A grid of images showing the view of Johannesburg through the windows of 180 of the 467 apartments in Ponte City.
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky05LON161092
From Sobotzky’s series of elevator portraits in Ponte City. “There’s a sense of proximity and claustrophobia but distance in the way they’re looking at us,” said Subotzky.
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky06LON161094
From Sobotzky’s series of elevator portraits in Ponte City. The portraits are reminiscent of Irving Penn’s corner portraits and their engineered claustrophobia.
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky07LON161160
Over two years Subotzky spent on the Ponte City project, some residents invited him in and took interest in his work. “Its not about gaining people’s trust,” said Subotzky. “It’s just about being honest about what we were doing.”
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky08LON161109
View from ground floor of the hollow core of Ponte City. The developers that purchased the building in 2007 smashed the windows to make it easier to throw debris through them.
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky09LON161095
From Sobotzky’s series of elevator portraits in Ponte City. “I was really struck by the light in there—that harsh fluorescent light against the silver background,” said Subotzky.
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky10LON161152
With half the tenants evicted hastily, plenty of personal items were left behind. Subotzky and Waterhouse excavated the rubble and combed through vacant flats for found objects. “We found these ghost voices from the people who had been in the building before us,” said Subotzky.
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky11LON161155
With half the tenants evicted hastily, plenty of personal items were left behind. Subotzky and Waterhouse excavated the rubble and combed through vacant flats for found objects. “There was this mythology of 70 floors of rubble and a metaphor of the building as a rubbish can,” said Subotzky. “But we found lots of valuable material.”
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky12LON161159
Over two years Subotzky spent on the Ponte City project, some residents invited him in. “At that point a lot of people actually wanted to be in the photograph,” said Subotzky.
Photo: Mikhael Subotzky13LON161184
The view from the ground floor of the hollow core of Ponte City after the windows had been repaired and the building refilled with residents.
