Generation Z
Kerstin Hacker
Generation Z challenges the current representation of Zambia and questions the Euro-American photographic representation of the African metropole.
Zambia’s cities grow at a staggering rate, and it is projected that half of Zambia’s rapidly growing population will live in urban centres by 2035. While Zambia is still categorised amongst the poorest countries in the world, its capital Lusaka offers aspirational economic opportunities to its young and ambitious consumer class.
In Generation Z Kerstin Hacker captures the optimism of this growing subsection of Zambia’s population, who are a generation that can generate wealth and spend their income on non-essential goods and services. The series captures the city as it embraces capitalism and the accoutrements of what Europe and the US defines as a middle-class lifestyle.
Kerstin Hacker explores how as a European photographer she has to continuously adapt her creative practice to contribute to an emerging visual record of the dynamism of metropolitan Africa. In Generation Z she re-calibrates her own practice as a photographer and is unlearning historic photographic practices that contribute to the definition of people’s understanding of themselves and how they are seen by others. Generation Z represents this willingness to question one’s own position and allows for new knowledge, new practices, and new understandings to emerge.
Hungry Lion, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,600
Manda Hill Shopping Mall, Lusaka, Zambia, 2017$1,200
Supermarket, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Car Wash, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,600
Time Out, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Waiter, Lusaka, Zambia, 2019$1,200
Study Break, Lusaka, Zambia, 2017$1,200
Sunday Church, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Memorial Service, Lusaka, Zambia, 2019
On the Way Home, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Skate Boarding, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Backstage, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Before the Rush, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Advert, Lusaka, Zambia, 2019$1,600
New Builds, Lusaka, Zambia, 2019$1,200
A Moment of Rest, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Bodybuilder, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
After the Race, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Ballet Girls, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Urban Youth Event, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Going Home, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
V.I.P. , Lusaka, Zambia, 2019$1,200
Wedding, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
On Offer, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200
Birthday Girl, Lusaka, Zambia, 2016$1,200