Guy Tillim’s photographs portray formerly majestic colonial buildings — stately banks and schools, elegant hotels and government buildings — that have slid into a state of decay. That may not seem like the stuff of high drama, but as the South African photographer shows, it’s all about context. Named the first Robert Gardner Photography Fellow at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, 617.496.1027), Tillim has produced a book of his work documenting post-colonial Africa, a selection of which is on view at the museum through September 7. According to Ilisa Barbash, associate curator of visual anthropology, the show marks a break from the museum’s practice of showcasing images from bygone eras. Featuring contemporary works offers a chance to “bring viewers up-to-date on what’s happening in Africa,” she says. To create Avenue Patrice Lumumba: Photographs by Guy Tillim, the title of his book and the accompanying show, Tillim journeyed through Mozambique, Congo, Madagascar, and Angola, focusing his camera on a history that’s still present in the countries’ grand structures and quiet corners. “The colonial offices were built in a period that was meant to show the power of Great Britain or France or Germany,” says Barbash. “It’s sad to see those structures in a state of decay because it’s emblematic of what happened throughout the countries — especially in Portuguese-ruled countries, like Mozambique and Angola. They didn’t leave very supportive political structures in place. They left a lot of room for political corruption and poverty. I think the pictures show that. Those nations don’t have money to uphold those beautiful buildings. It’s political in that sense, but he doesn’t hit you over the head.” In fact, it’s the small details that seem to leave the most profound impact. “A lot of photos show architecture and streets and statues, but there’s an intense human presence in the photographs, even if some of that comes from the fact that someone left a purse on a desk or there’s laundry hanging or litter in the street,” Barbash says. “There are traces of people all over these structures. It’s Africans who are resiliently working in a not very ideal environment.”
