In Thorne’s latest series ‘Black Folk’ Thorne embarked on a transcontinental search for expressions of Black middle class culture. Through photography and audio interviews, he seeks to facilitate extensive visual and verbal dialogue on how identity is created in the global south, specifically in Cape Town.

In Thorne’s latest series ‘Black Folk’ Thorne embarked on a transcontinental search for expressions of Black middle class culture. Through photography and audio interviews, he seeks to facilitate extensive visual and verbal dialogue on how identity is created in the global south, specifically in Cape Town. Combining large format film photographs alongside excerpts from various interviews, Thorne hopes to present a new perspective on Black identity. Thorne asks why so many Black Africans find the Mother City’s embrace suffocating instead of welcoming. “Paramount in my work and research is how social class plays a significant role in defining how one witnesses ‘Blackness’”, comments Thorne.

Jared Thorne holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a M.F.A. from Columbia University. He worked as a journalist at CNN and lectured at Columbia University.  He is currently a Senior Lecturer at Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography.

Jared Thorne’s photographs seek to challenge hegemonic, as well as self-imposed constructs of Black identity. His work centers on issues of race, class and gender and engages questions of authenticity, representation and history, challenging his viewers to redefine their conceptual understanding of modern Black culture.

His latest series ‘Black Folk’ creates a dialogue about the role of social class and race in the definition, understanding, and development of ‘Blackness’ in Cape Town and in the South African visual archive.