o get to Mikhael Subotzky’s studio in downtown Johannesburg from the unmissable Brixton Tower, which doubles as my location pin, one can either wade through the concrete jungle eastward, via Newtown or Braamfontein, or take the circuitous highway trip that heads south, then east, before reentering the city from the south, having made the shape of a sickle blade. This second option traverses intersecting overpasses, providing a sense of the fascination photographers have with this city where the sleek banking district gives way to abandoned skyscrapers and mine dumps that are still being extracted (both legally
