Kwa Mandebele, Zenzeleni, Warden, 2013

Aperture is pleased to release this limited-edition print by Jabulani Dhlamini in conjunction with the publication of Aperture Issue #227: “Platform Africa”. Jabulani Dhlamini’s series uMama (2012–13) intimately explores the lives of single mothers in various South African townships. His tender portraits of mothers and their homes honor and celebrate the role that single mothers have while also highlighting broader social issues of economic struggle, gender norms, and perceptions of domesticity in contemporary South African society. And in his images of the young boys raised by these mothers, Dhlamini draws from his own upbringing and contemplates what it means to become an adult in a fatherless home.

Archival Pigment Print on Fiber Paper
Image Size: 19 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches
Edition of 6
Signed and numbered by the artist

Jabulani Dhlamini (b. 1983, Warden, Free State) lives and works in Johannesburg. Dhlamini majored in documentary photography at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg and he was the recipient of the Edward Ruiz Mentorship 2011/12. Dhlamini’s work focuses on his upbringing and the way he views contemporary South Africa.