New South African Music

The photographer Chris Saunders has documented the South African music scenes for a long time. Check out his colourful photo series of some of the country's most upcoming electronic music artists. From the Norient book Seismographic Sounds (see and order here).

Click on the title image to explore the photo series.

I have documented South African music scenes for a few years now. Because we had musical pioneers and because we now have the Internet, these scenes are exploding: more and more artists are starting to get international recognition. My small selection, photographed over a few years, shows some of the diversity in the scene. You can find pictures of anyone from Invizable, who started off as a producer for Gazelle (see interview here), to Spoko, the originator of the Bacardi house sound and now part of the world-touring Fantasma with Spoke Mathambo, to a portrait of Nozinja, the now Warp Records-signed pioneer of Shangaan Electro (see portrait here). Music is reflective of the richness of the soul of South Africa. It is our way of telling our stories.

This photo series is part of the Norient exhibition Seismographic Sounds and was published first in the correspondent Norient book.

Biography

Chris Saunders is a photographer from Johannesburg South Africa, he recently completed a one year residency at Fabrica, Benettons Creative Research Facility in Treviso, Italy. He is currently back in South Africa. Read his blog here.

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Seismographic Sounds
Seismographic Sounds: Visions of a New World
€50.00
The second Norient book «Seismographic Sounds: Visions of a New World» introduces you to a contemporary world of distinct music and music videos. Written by 250 scholars, journalists, bloggers and musicians from 50 countries.

Published on January 27, 2016

Last updated on August 25, 2022

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