Goch St cnr Bree St; Carr St; Goch St, Newtown

The panoramic photograph shows a busy intersection in Newtown, Johannesburg, with paved roads, moving and parked vehicles, industrial and commercial buildings, and vacant lots. A large multi-story complex anchors the scene, while a partly cloudy sky and a billboard hint at the area’s commercial activity.

The stitched panoramic format introduces slight distortions, lending the image a sense of movement and temporality. Soft rendering of architectural forms, street surfaces, and signage, combined with occasional blurred human activity, emphasizes the city as a lived space rather than a fixed tableau. The viewer is invited to move visually along the streets, experiencing the intersections as dynamic nodes of urban life.

Historically, these streets reflect layers of industrial, commercial, and residential use, while contemporary Newtown continues to evolve with heritage preservation, cultural institutions, and active trade. Ractliffe’s work positions the streets as both specific locations and emblematic of Johannesburg’s shifting urban landscape, highlighting the interplay of memory, history, and ongoing transformation.