I am an artist and curator working with photography, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Rooted in a non-narrative documentary tradition, my work centres around observations of built environments, cultural landscapes and expressions of material culture - with a particular focus on East and Southern Africa. Together with improvised still-lifes sourced from found or constructed objects, my projects are often hybrid in nature, including observational and sculptural modes of practice. At its core, my practice explores the fundamental idea that architecture – or how architecture is inhabited and adapted – profoundly influences how culture is expressed and experienced. Moreover, I understand architectural photography to be in direct dialogue with the cultural value of buildings and their locales.
Rooted in a non-narrative documentary tradition, my work centres around observations of built environments, cultural landscapes and expressions of material culture - with a particular focus on East and Southern Africa. Together with improvised still-lifes sourced from found or constructed objects, my projects are often hybrid in nature, including observational and sculptural modes of practice. At its core, my practice explores the fundamental idea that architecture – or how architecture is inhabited and adapted – profoundly influences how culture is expressed and experienced. Moreover, I understand architectural photography to be in direct dialogue with the cultural value of buildings and their locales.
Examples of recent works include Swahili Morphology – a body of photographic and sculptural work produced in Kenya and Tanzania, which celebrates the rich cultural heritage and dynamic urbanism of the East African littoral, morphing examples of post-independence modernism with pre-colonial precedents; Organised Island, produced on the former slave-trading islands of northern Mozambique, which, through the theme of support structures, looks at the relationship between colonial infrastructure and vernacular building traditions; and Dwelling in Madagascar, created as an embedded artist with the Architectural Association Visiting School programme, which portrays the everyday spaces of the communities living alongside the island nation's most exploited environments.
Born in Hong Kong
BA (hons) Photography,
UAL: London College of Communication
Roof Unit Photographic Studio,
London
Flowers Gallery, Photography Director,
London
Architectural Association Visiting School,
Unknown Fields, Madagascar
Las Pozas, Mexico
Relocated to Johannesburg,
South Africa
Saba Artist Residency,
Lamu Island, Kenya
Market Photo Workshop, Johannesburg,
Visual Culture Trainer
Edward Burtynsky Studio,
Africa consultant
Robert Morat Galerie,
Art fair consultant
©2025 All images and text unless otherwise credited copyright Christopher Littlewood
1981
2003︎2006
2006︎2008
2008︎2018
2013
2017
2019
2019
2020
2020︎2022
2021︎2024
LITTLEWOOD.CHRIS@GMAIL.COM
SOUTH AFRICA: +27721273645
UK, WHATSAPP: +447846211035
INSTAGRAM
LINKEDIN
I am an artist and curator working with photography,
based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Rooted in a non-narrative documentary tradition, my work centres around observations of built environments, cultural landscapes and expressions of material culture - with a particular focus on East and Southern Africa. Together with improvised still-lifes sourced from found or constructed objects, my projects are often hybrid in nature, including observational and sculptural modes of practice. At its core, my practice explores the fundamental idea that architecture – or how architecture is inhabited and adapted – profoundly influences how culture is expressed and experienced. Moreover, I understand architectural photography to be in direct dialogue with the cultural value of buildings and their locales.
Examples of recent works include Swahili Morphology – a body of photographic and sculptural work produced in Kenya and Tanzania, which celebrates the rich cultural heritage and dynamic urbanism of the East African littoral, morphing examples of post-independence modernism with pre-colonial precedents; Organised Island, produced on the former slave-trading islands of northern Mozambique, which, through the theme of support structures, looks at the relationship between colonial infrastructure and vernacular building traditions; and Dwelling in Madagascar, created as an embedded artist with the Architectural Association Visiting School programme, which portrays the everyday spaces of the communities living alongside the island nation's most exploited environments.
©2025 All images and text unless otherwise credited copyright Christopher Littlewood
SOUTH AFRICA: +27721273645
UK, WHATSAPP: +447846211035
I am an artist and curator working with photography,
based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Rooted in a non-narrative documentary tradition, my work centres around observations of built environments, cultural landscapes and expressions of material culture - with a particular focus on East and Southern Africa. Together with improvised still-lifes sourced from found or constructed objects, my projects are often hybrid in nature, including observational and sculptural modes of practice. At its core, my practice explores the fundamental idea that architecture – or how architecture is inhabited and adapted – profoundly influences how culture is expressed and experienced. Moreover, I understand architectural photography to be in direct dialogue with the cultural value of buildings and their locales.
Examples of recent works include Swahili Morphology – a body of photographic and sculptural work produced in Kenya and Tanzania, which celebrates the rich cultural heritage and dynamic urbanism of the East African littoral, morphing examples of post-independence modernism with pre-colonial precedents; Organised Island, produced on the former slave-trading islands of northern Mozambique, which, through the theme of support structures, looks at the relationship between colonial infrastructure and vernacular building traditions; and Dwelling in Madagascar, created as an embedded artist with the Architectural Association Visiting School programme, which portrays the everyday spaces of the communities living alongside the island nation's most exploited environments.
©2025 All images and text unless otherwise credited copyright Christopher Littlewood
Born in Hong Kong
BA (hons) Photography,
UAL: London College of Communication
Roof Unit Photographic Studio,
London
Flowers Gallery, Photography Director,
London
Architectural Association Visiting School,
Unknown Fields, Madagascar
Las Pozas, Mexico
Relocated to Johannesburg,
South Africa
Saba Artist Residency,
Lamu Island, Kenya
Market Photo Workshop, Johannesburg,
Visual Culture Trainer
Edward Burtynsky Studio,
Africa consultant
Robert Morat Galerie,
Art fair consultant
BA (hons) Photography,
UAL: London College of Communication
Roof Unit Photographic Studio,
London
Flowers Gallery, Photography Director,
London
Architectural Association Visiting School,
Unknown Fields, Madagascar
Las Pozas, Mexico
Relocated to Johannesburg,
South Africa
Saba Artist Residency,
Lamu Island, Kenya
Market Photo Workshop, Johannesburg,
Visual Culture Trainer
Edward Burtynsky Studio,
Africa consultant
Robert Morat Galerie,
Art fair consultant
1981
2003︎2006
2006︎2008
2008︎2018
2013
2017
2019
2019
2020
2020︎2022
2021︎2024
2003︎2006
2006︎2008
2008︎2018
2013
2017
2019
2019
2020
2020︎2022
2021︎2024