"Wake Up, This Is Joburg is a collaboration between photographer Mark Lewis and writer Tanya Zack. Originally published from 2014-2019 as ten separate photobooks by Fourthwall Books in South Africa, the collection builds a portrait of Johannesburg through individual stories and accompanying photographs. Ranging from butchers removing meat from cow heads in a parking garage meat market to underground gold miners hauling rock by hand from abandoned shafts under the city, these stories contribute to ethnographic studies of the city by showing the lived experience of its residents. At its heart, this project investigates how people are improvising to repurpose land and buildings, especially in Johannesburg's inner city. It brings attention to a vast informal economy, as well as widespread reconstruction as crumbling buildings are occupied, burned, stripped of parts, and rebuilt to serve the needs of the residents."--