Free Ground

This unique book showcases South African photographer Trevor Appleson’s two major contemporary projects: Beaches and Uniforms.

Beaches presents portraits taken in the golden light of dusk and dawn on a beach near Cape Town. Beach bums, vendors, gang members, children, and swimmers are all photographed against a black background. Although the subjects are not connected, seen together their images resemble the cast of a Biblical epic, leaving viewers to ponder what is happening off-camera. In Uniforms, Appleson focuses on people in uniform, with photographs of police, fruit packers, schoolchildren, and security guards reminiscent of Old Master paintings.