Jon Riordan
Capturing Memory in the South African Landscape
Born in Port Elizabeth in 1981 and currently residing in Cape Town, Jon Riordan has emerged as a distinctive voice in the realm of photography. With exhibitions spanning both his home country of South Africa, in cities like Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, and extending across Europe in Poland, Spain, and Ireland, Riordan has carved out a space for his unique visual narratives on the international stage.
Having recently completed his Masters in Documentary Arts at the University of Cape Town under the mentorship of renowned photographer Paul Weinberg, Riordan's academic and creative journey reflects a deep and evolving engagement with the photographic medium. Though he initially embarked on an academic path to become a writer, Riordan was captivated by the potent storytelling capacity of photography, leading him to pursue a degree in photojournalism and nurturing an enduring fascination with the craft.
Riordan articulates a profound respect for photography's unparalleled ability to convey complex stories through nuanced and layered imagery. This perspective is at the heart of his artistic philosophy, which emphasizes the richness of revisiting images to uncover deeper meanings and insights with each viewing. His work is especially concerned with the intersection of history and contemporary society, drawing inspiration from Simon Schama's notion that landscapes are as much a product of memory as they are of physical formations.
In South Africa, a country where the past profoundly shapes the present, Riordan's focus on the everyday environment rather than purely personal narratives offers a compelling lens through which to explore collective lived experiences. He aims to interrogate how historical undercurrents inform and manifest in the present, using the camera to probe the subtle dialogues between past and present that permeate South African landscapes.
"I am particularly interested in the role history plays in present-day society and have been greatly influenced by Simon Schama’s statement that landscape is built up as much from strata of memory as from layers of rock. In a country that is as dominated by its history as South Africa, this is particularly evident, and it is through engaging with our everyday environments rather than the intensely personal that I hope to interrogate our lived experience."
Jon Riordan's work invites a reflective engagement with the spaces we inhabit, encouraging a deeper understanding of the narratives woven into the fabric of South African society. Through his lens, viewers are invited to explore the complex layers of memory, history, and identity that define both the landscape and the people who live within it.
