Ute Dilger

Touching Concrete

Hillbrow, a Johannesburg district bristling with buildings, on whose concrete reverberates the incessant maelstrom of street sounds. This overpopulated suburb, where life is cheap, is the playground of Tebogo and Karabo. Aged around fifteen, not very interested in school, in conflict with their mothers who are raising them alone and leave them a little to themselves, the two friends spend the summer relieving their boredom as best as they can. When they are not mixing with the groups of their elders, dancing in underground car parks or drifting through the urban hell, they seem to watch over the city by seeking refuge on the roof of their block.

Holding Still

Janis was paralysed at the age of 22 and since has spent her time mostly in bed. She looks at the outside world via a surveillance camera connected to her laptop. Through the camera she can keep an eye on everything that would otherwise remain hidden from her - the living room, the kitchen and especially the life outside her front door.