Pieter Hugo at Yossi Milo

I am a big fan of the Yossi Milo gallery.  We have bought a variety of photographs from Yossi over the years.  The show for Pieter Hugo opened this past week.  I highly recommend going. 

The first time I saw Hugo's work was when I visited Jessica while she was at school in Cape Town.  I was mesmerized by his work.  I could not get it out of my head. He is an incredible portrait photographer capturing his own country.  The series I saw were dark and I was pretty sure Fred would not be thrilled to live with the pieces so I didn't pull the trigger. 

This show is called Kim.  It is his own exploration of his own country.  Hugo describes Kin as "an engagement with the failure of the South African colonial experience and my sense of being "colonial driftwood"..South Africa is such a fractured, schizophrenic, wounded and problematic place.  It is a very violent society and the scars of colonialism and Apartheid run deep.  Issues of race and cultural custodianship permeate every aspect of society here and the legacy of Apartheid casts a long shadow…How does one live in this society?  How does ont take responsibility for history, and to what extend does one have to?  How do you raise a family in such a conflicted society? 

The photographs are mesmerizing and beautiful.  This is one of his pregnant wife that captures his personal conflicts.  I loved the show.

This time, I bought one.  The one above.