CURIOUS

(SOUTHERN AFRICA · 2023)

(DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY)

Child crawling in front of a rural home while looking up to their mother, photographed by col_shots

Child laughing while resting on their mother’s legs after being changed, photographed by col_shots

Family members seated in a circle during a South African gathering, photographed by col_shots

The project forms part of the wider documentary practice of col_shots, where ordinary moments become visual records of memory, social life, and emotional truth. Curious is about peace of mind, freedom, and the fragile beauty of being young, before the full weight of the world becomes visible.

Close-up of a child peeping around a street corner near Beit Street in Johannesburg by col_shots

Children posing together for a photograph in South Africa, captured by col_shots 2020-04-12 11.54.46 1

Curious is a documentary photography collection by col_shots, centred on childhood, innocence, freedom, and the natural curiosity children carry as they move through the world. The collection documents moments of play, family, attention, laughter, waiting, and looking, small scenes where young life reveals both joy and vulnerability.

Black and white photograph of a child laughing and playing at a family gathering by col_shots

Child peeping around a corner toward a street vendor selling crisps and sweets near Beit Street by col_shots

Across rural spaces, family gatherings, Johannesburg streets, and everyday South African environments, Curious looks at children not as passive subjects, but as people actively observing, learning, reaching, questioning, and responding to the world around them. Some images are filled with laughter and movement; others hold quieter questions about poverty, care, protection, and the situations children are born into before they can fully understand them.