Hard Cut

Hard cut shows two extremes of the centre of Johannesburg: the abstract image of the skyline and the bustle of everyday life at street level. From the roofs, the city looks lifeless. Only the indefinable sound of the street betrays another dimension to the city. The day begins, the sun is reflected in the windows of the high office buildings and slowly rises. The floors of the hotel remain empty. Here and there, washing is hanging outside. Some office buildings are inhabited by people. The lethargic images of the skyline contrast with the rapidity of the shots of people in the street. They hurry from one place to another, trade with each other or make their way with children through the crowds. In their joint work, Ella Raidel and René Straub concentrate on superficial changes, the rearrangement of space and the ways people move around cities reflecting the visual culture of society. Both everyday scenes and underlying patterns brought about by urban life are examined. On show in Witte de With.