Avenue Patrice Lumumba

A few years ago, South African photographer Guy Tillim travelled to Angola, DRC, Madagascar, and Mozambique capturing present-day scenes of Avenue Patrice Lumumba. Caught up in the excitement of post-colonialism and the election of Patrice Lumumba as prime minister in DRC, several countries throughout the continent tossed up modernist buildings on streets named after this icon.

Today these buildings are anything but modern, yet I love the big and small ways that life continues around their constant decay. I also like that Tillim doesn't attempt to capture anything beautiful or glamourous in these shots. Something about them just says "observe" without judgement or without trying to "fix" what one deems "wrong" in these scenes.....

To see more of the collection, check out the Tate Modern. 

{Photos: Tate Modern}