Amelioration

This highly-anticipated exhibition was on show from 20 May until 1 July 2009 at The Photo Workshop Gallery. Part of the exhibition was also shown at the Michaelis Gallery in Cape Town from 23 May 2009. As a Tierney Fellow, select works by Tracy Edser were also exhibited as part of The Tierney Fellowship Show at The New York Photo Festival from 13-17 May 2009.

Edser, working with her mentor, photographer Mikhael Subotzky, produced this body of work over the course of a year. The exhibition documents the complex social and personal realities of individuals recovering from addiction and substance abuse. Edser’s photographs are intimate, personal and deeply moving, and capture the often harsh realities of social isolation and reproach.

When asked about her work, Edser said “… the enemy is the chemistry of addiction and depression, and there are many casualties. But there are also victories. It’s both of these that I seek to document. I began photographing some of the people I’ve come to know in the past two years, who’ve entered the recovery culture and embarked on a journey of hope and renewal … of amelioration. From housewives hooked on codeine to college high-achievers hiding self-inflicted scars; there’s an intense human experience that extends across race, class and cultural divisions, and has so far gone largely unacknowledged”.

The exhibition has been made possible by The Tierney Fellowship.

Tracy Edser is a graduate of the Market Photo Workshop’s Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Programme, and was awarded the Tierney Fellowship grant in 2008. She lives and works in Johannesburg.

About The Tierney Fellowship

The Tierney Fellowship was created in 2003 by The Tierney Family Foundation to support emerging artists in the field of photography. The primary goal of the Fellowship is to find aspiring artists who will be tomorrow’s leaders and assist them in overcoming challenges that many photographers face at the start of their careers.