Up close and personal: photographer captures joys and struggles of SA’s born-free generation

In recognition of three decades of South Africa’s democracy, the Apartheid Museum partnered with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Netherlands embassy to present Born Free: Generation of Hope, a photographic exhibition by Dutch photographer Ilvy Njiokiktjien in which she explores the lives of South Africa’s first generation born from the early 1990s, just as apartheid was ending.

The exhibition is curated by South African photographer Neo Ntsoma and Azu Nwagbogu, the founder of the LagosPhoto Festival and the African Artists’ Foundation.

Jason Noah (21), who grew up middle class, arrives at a nightclub in Pretoria to celebrate his 21st. He has been successful as a foreign exchange trader (2018).

Bulisani Dube (25) of the Twelve Apostles Church includes the ailing and hospitalised Nelson Mandela in his prayers on a hillside above Yeoville, which overlooks downtown Johannesburg (2013).

Innocent Moreku (22) on an evening out in Pretoria (2018).

Students at Tom Naudé High School in Polokwane walk from one classroom to the next between lessons (2012).

People order drinks at the bar at the Pirates Bowling Club in Johannesburg. One of the bands playing that night was Desmond and the Tutus (2018).

Couple Ofentse Sean Lewis (left) and Sipho Lewis Maestro Azzuro sit on the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg. DM