Langa Longer Shopping Mall

Skhayascraper

For Con/struct, the photographer Justin Plunkett blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, creating towering South African cityscapes from photographs layered with three-dimensional animations. In these immense metropolises, the imagined allure of economic success meets the cruel realities of urban disrepair, with each frame seamlessly merging shots of Cape Town’s impoverished neighborhoods with icons of great wealth and prosperity, including features associated with opulent Cape Dutch architecture.

In these towering structures, we find ominous yet enticing manifestations of a global commercial fantasy that casts vast shadows over the streets like ever-present reminders of a mysterious and unfulfilled promise of success. Many of Plunkett’s original images were gathered from struggling neighborhoods lined with tin shacks, yet here they are imbued with the glamour of commercial expansion and glossy advertisements. With these hulking towers, he presents a vision of power that is absolute but ultimately fictional, imposing yet illusory.

Glory to Gold

Gugulethu Gables

Diepsloot Dignity Tower

Sunny Meadow Fun Park

Bridge Below Starry Skies

All images © Justin Plunkett

via Hi-Fructose