Lane of Agoraphobia

'I came suddenly upon such knotty problems of alleys such enigmatic entries and such sphinx riddles of streets without thorough fares.' - Thomas de Quincey

Upon arrival in Johannesburg, my male friends bombarded me with stern advice - stay indoors once dark as a yawning grave, limit the use of electronic gadgets while walking, do not smile, leave exterior lights on overnight, take Ubers and no taxis, and move in groups among many others.

I began walking as that was the only means of transportation available as at the time of arrival. This ritual of navigating through streetscape in a state of solitude offers a drab experience especially once dark for a lady who is shortsighted.

As a result, this project embeds itself in the interest/concepts of psychogeography (Debord 1955) such as the derive to analyse, highlight and document the emotional experiences and manoeuvring techniques adopted to safely move through the gauntlet.