#jutastreet

[mandlaness]

However u wanna rock it! #jozistreets #jozilife #jozi #fashionwoman #fashionworld #streetculture #streetstyle #braamfontein #braam #southpoint #neighbourgoodsmarket #juta #jutastreet #johannesburg #mzansi (at Johannesburg, Gauteng)

[sketchyflawss-blog]

My Day At Braamfontein In One Picture. #JutaStreet Sneakers & Coffee😆😆 @Sketchyflawss on Tumblr (at Anatomy)

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Juta street, Braamfontein (South Africa)

[signsonjutastreet-blog]

This picture is taken on Juta Street of a Transcribers business called “Lubbe & Meintjies cc”. This sign is multilingual and has both English and Afrikaans present on the same advertisement. “Dissiplinere, Verhoor, Opnames” translates to “Disciplinary, Hearing, Recordings”. This information could be their way of conveying their skills and areas of expertise. All of the information they display gives a clear indication of what their business entails and what the space is used for.

The poster lists the different services they offer and gives other important information such as contact details, email addresses and their motto or slogan. The sign, although it is professionally done, is considered a bottom-up sign as it is not put up by officials. This sign is also a professional sign but is not a site of luxury but rather a site of necessity as it is right by the business.

These signs all indicate an English, Afrikaans translation which is interesting because the poster says “established 2002″. By this time South Africa already had 11 official languages so the fact that the business focuses on English and Afrikaans alone is interesting especially because it is on Juta street where one would think Afrikaans is not a primary language. One would think other Bantu languages would be more prevalent.

[signsonjutastreet-blog]

This sign, found on Juta Street, belongs to a highly recognized security service in South Africa- ADT.  

Although this sign was not created by an official government institution, it can be seen as an example of a top-down sign as it has been produced on a more professional level. The fact that this sign has been placed outside of a building on Juta Street raises ones awareness into the surroundings of this area in that people feel the need to have 24 hour security. 

This sign has been vandalised with 2 stickers; firstly, a sticker of the international brand “coca-cola” and secondly, a sticker advertising a 24 hour towing company. This may have been placed here as this social actor also provides the public with a service that may be useful towards the people in this area. 

It has been noted that the use of stickers placed on signs, is a prominent form of vandalism in this area. This shows that the people occupying this space are not necessarily respectful towards official signs. 

[signsonjutastreet-blog]

This photo was taken of a sushi restaurant on Juta Street. The wall and window of the restaurant form part of the sign, together with the neon "sushi" sign that lights up at night. The wall of the restaurant has a fish painted on it in a street art style. This fits in with the prominence of graffiti in Juta Street, however it is done in a professional and artistic manner. The window of the shop is below the neon sign. This lead to the interpretation of the neon "sushi" sign as the ideal, because people read the word sushi and think about their ideal serving of sushi. The window functions as the real, because the audience can look directly into the restaurant. The real can be seen as an empty table, or if someone is having a meal, the actual sushi can be viewed through the window and the audience can see exactly what they could get inside. The window also serves as an interactive advertisement. People walking past may see others inside eating sushi and decide to go in. Depending on who is seated at the table, the people in the "advert" may actively interact with the people looking at them or they may ignore the audience and focus on one another and their meal.

[signsonjutastreet-blog]

These photos were taken of two mobile signs on Juta Street. Both signs are directive and guide the audience to the doors of shops whose entrances are partially concealed. The signs are taken off the street and moved inside once the shops close for the day. Both signs are made of stainless steel and have been professionally made and painted. There has been money invested in the signs. This highlights the difficulties in clearly distinguishing between top-down and bottom-up signs, because although the signs have not been created by the government, they are more official than many of the paper signs and advertisements seen on Juta Street.

[signsonjutastreet-blog]

These are more examples of graffiti written on the wall labelled "exhibition for those who can relate". Racial inequalities are still hugely prominent in South Africa, despite the fact that the country has been ruled democratically by the ANC for over 20 years. This wall takes on an expressive function as it has been used as a space to share feelings and emotions about race. The message "FUCK WHITE GIRLS" is written in all caps on the wall and can be interpreted as holding anger or resentment towards white females. Underneath this is the word "literally" in a different handwriting, suggesting that it may have been added by a different individual to resist the message of anger. This sends a message that white women are desirable. In South Africa white bodies have often been seen as the ideal, because of the history of apartheid and the privileges white people were afforded under this regime. Alternatively, the original message can be read in a sexual manner, and the added word "literally" as agreeing with rather than resisting this message. Whichever way you read it, this graffiti points to the fact that despite the end of apartheid, there is still a discrepancy in the way black and white bodies are viewed and desired. Another racial message on the wall is "Story of my life I was black I'm still black". This has reference to the difficulties black individuals still face because of apartheid. It is impossible to escape being black, and thus it is impossible to escape the struggles that come with being previously disadvantaged. Black individuals still face inequality because of the political structure of the past and this message points to the emotions of frustration and anger that come with accepting this struggle. It is interesting that the messages on this wall are written in English, when the authors are most likely black individuals who do not speak English as a first or even second language. However, English is the dominant language in official signs on Juta Street, and the street is in close proximity to Wits university, where English is the language of instruction. Thus the authors of the graffiti may have been influenced by the language in their environment rather than their home languages.