Laura Pannack

Making our way home from school is a simple, nostalgic, and nearly universal experience. In South Africa—a country with one of the widest social divides and the fastest-growing youth populations in the world—this daily commute carries its own challenges. Created in dialogue with young people from four local NGOs, the project uses workshops to build relationships and explore the journey to and from school.

Using analog photography, drawing, collage, and cyanotypes, the experiences of young people living in volatile environments are traced. Cameras change hands, perspectives shift, and dialogue replaces observation. Each frame becomes a shared act of authorship, revealing a visual language shaped by proximity, humor, and survival. Walking together on the journey to and from school: an anonymous space free from adults, a no-man’s-land where friendship and solitary reflection prevail. The images are playful and shaped by multiple perspectives—made through lo-fi, experimental processes that embrace imperfection.