Photography · Installation · Glass
Celeste Mbele
Cape Town, South Africa
“Absence has posture.”
Biography
Celeste Mbele makes black-and-white photographs of public thresholds, workspaces, and temporary structures. People rarely appear, but evidence of labor and occupation is everywhere.
Artist statement
I photograph the arrangements that remain after someone leaves. A chair angle or worn path can describe a body with great precision.
In the studio
Mbele works with medium-format film and prints in a small darkroom. She favors long exposures and matte papers that hold a wide range of quiet grey. Her spatial work turns photographic absence into light, shadow, and carefully measured distance.
