(Matt Kay – “Oasis
Beach” from the series The Front, Durban 2014)
The KZNSA will host 2014 Tierney Fellow Matt Kay and his
thought-provoking body of work, The Front,
which opens in the Main Gallery on October 28.
The aim of the Tierney Fellowship at the Market Photo
Workshop, in partnership with the Tierney Family Foundation, is to award an
emerging photographer the opportunity to develop their career and skills
through this mentorship programme, an ideal space for a photographer to develop
a body of work. The Front investigates
the Durban beachfront as an ever-changing space and the people that frequent
it.
Kay was born in 1985 and completed the Intermediate Course
and Advanced Photography Programme at the Market Photo Workshop. He has received
numerous awards and mentions that include Winner of the 2011 CIT:Y award for
photography, Finalist for the International Salzburg Summer Academy of Fine
Arts (ISBK) residency, Finalist for the GUP/Viewbook International Small
Stories Competition, Recipient of the Ithuba Arts Fund and Nominee for the 2014
Hel –Ved new Talent Award. He recently showcased his work Losing Ground during the inaugural Joburg Photo Umbrella.
Matt Kay was mentored by Market Photo Workshop founder and
renowned South African photographer David Goldblatt.
The promenade on Durban beachfront was constructed in
anticipation of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Approximately 6.2 km long, it
stretches from uShaka Marine World until Blue Lagoon in the North. Durban’s
beaches have undergone a rapid transformation in the past 20 years. Holidaymakers,
locals, fisherman, surfers, runners and religious groups share the area. The
promenade seems to have evolved into a truly shared space within South Africa.
However, the nature of the beachfront shifts constantly, as the day progresses
the flow of people constantly changes, and the function of the beach
transforms.
The Front is an
investigation, a revealing, of space. It documents the people who use the
beachfront. It seeks to record the rapidly changing nature of the promenade by
placing a marker as to what the space is now at this point in time. The Front confronts diversity, identity,
and multi-functionality of shared public space. Matt Kay says: “this body of
work was about looking harder at a space I thought I knew and understood. The
harder I looked the more I realized that I understood very little about a place
that clearly was significant to so many people in so many different ways. The
beach has a strangeness to it that is constantly visible but only when looked
for. This project finds relevance in that it is often the quiet and disconnected
moments we see that stay with us and challenge our perspectives.”
For Kay, photography is about searching for a way for him to
make sense of the world and then express what is important to others. His
process very much revolves around photographing instinctively and then really
discovering the narrative through the editing process.
Describing the Tierney Fellowship experience, he says: “As a
photographer who normally works very much alone it was a big challenge to open
up and allow others into the process of making this body of work. At times it
made me feel vulnerable and at others great to know that there is real
knowledge and experience guiding you in the right direction. The whole
experience is very grounding and although sometimes confusing I feel it is a
crucial part of moving forward in my career.”
The Front runs in
the Main Gallery at the KZNSA from October 28 to November 15, 2015. The KZNSA Gallery is situated at 166 Bulwer Road, Glenwood,
in Durban. More
information on 031 277 1705, fax 031 201 8051 or cell 082 220 0368 or visit www.kznsagallery.co.za
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