Untitled by Charles Harry Mackenzie

Charles describes his work saying it stems from the people around him and his own life, however as far as a general theme goes, he explains his aesthetic changes a lot. ‘I never really like to do the same thing twice. I often like to shoot and write by free-association. It means that my work at large is messy and disorganized with no real specification, but it gives me the freedom to explore topics without overthinking it. I’m big into performance art, and I feel that a photographer should not just be an observer but also a leader. In our society today, the power of photographs is diminishing, and I think the role of a photographer needs to change and adapt to this.’ As an emerging photographer, Charles uses a 5D Mk 2 and a 35mm lens, in addition to film (when he can afford it). He says, ‘I tend to care more about developed photos then digital ones. In the future when ocular photography becomes possible, I will most likely be one of the first cats to upgrade my eye for photographic capabilities, although it will most likely drive me crazy.’

For inspiration, Charles values a ‘fresh eyes’ approach, meaning he is always motivated by something that he has never seen or done before. ‘That’s why I’m a big fan of photographing and filming performance art. The environment, the reaction and the subject of your focus are always different. It can never be the same. So, I am inspired more by the people and environments that I shoot more then anything else really. I guess unconsciously I absorb inspiration from a variety of things, but nothing gets my mind spinning more than the actual shoot itself.’

If you’d like to keep an eye on Charles, click here to check out Waking, a performance art piece he photographed last year, or here for his last big project called People Street, a photo and video collage of people in all areas of Cape Town. At present, he’s busy working on a video portrait series called ‘Creatures of Cape Town’.

Mthabisi, at the pool by Charles Harry Mackenzie

September by Charles Harry Mackenzie

Shoprite by Charles Harry Mackenzie

Bat Country by Charles Harry Mackenzie

If you like Charles’ work, check out the gallery below for more of his images or go to his website.

Swept by YasMoosa

Light Chaser by YasMoosa

As a South African who is now based in Brisbane and currently studying architecture, the lovely Yaseera Moosa explains that she shoots on her Nikon D600 (and occasionally her iPhone), and that her technical process is spontaneous and experimental. She tells us, ‘I try not to overthink what my ‘style’ is because it’s pretty irrelevant to me. As a natural light photographer, my conditions are dictated by my environment, and as an impulsive person, my processing is dictated by how I feel. I struggle to describe my work in terms of its aesthetic character because I don’t really know what it is. I’m by no means a master of my craft and I have light years of learning ahead of me (which excites me to no end).’

Yaseera divulges that she doesn’t photograph to make a statement, but rather to feed her sentimentalism, ‘The fleeting nature of time and my constant fear of its insufficiency has left me with a desperate need to preserve it, so I do. I try to preserve the bane, the banal and the beautiful, so that I have something tangible (albeit occasionally abstract) to account for what I encounter.’

Her shoots, especially her portraiture shoots such as the ones featured below, are conceptualized by the people she shoots. Yaseera tells us that expression and disposition is usually a huge contributing factor to how she photographs her subjects, and that the same goes for place. ‘Rooms and fields have a lot of personality. So I always try to seek inspiration directly from my subjects. This always helps me when I’m trying to focus on doing something new, rather than latching onto an old technique or another photographer’s inspiration.’

If you like Yaseera’s work, keep an eye out for her regular work on her Facebook page and check out the gallery below for more of her images.

Sunkissed by YasMoosa

Suv by YasMoosa

Untitled by YasMoosa

Stephanie by YasMoosa

What Defines Art by YasMoosa

Autumn Air by YasMoosa

Self Portrait by Siyabonga Mkhasibe

Using a Nikon D90, with mostly a 50mm 1.8D lens or a 70 – 300mm Sigma, Siyabonga is successfully capturing documentary-style photographs that are crisp and have great light and movement. As an up-and-coming photographer, Siyabonga takes inspiration from 60s photographers the likes of Richard Avedon and Irving Penn as well as South Africa’s very own Roger Ballen, David Goldblatt and even popular Soweto photographers from ‘I See A Different You’. Siyabonga describes his work saying, ‘I think the way I think about photography informs and what it means to me generally informs what I photograph. I always want to create/capture the best document I can taking into consideration everything else I want to communicate through the photograph.’ If you like Siyabonga’s work, look out for his two future projects, which include a look back at South Africa’s 20 year history through the history of ‘Born Free’s’, which works with old photo’s. The other project is a series of profile images, with a focus on detail and form.

Joburg Pimp

Siya M0004 by Siyabonga Mkhasibe

Joburg Pimp

Portraits of the City – Central Methodist Church

Siya M0001 by Siyabonga Mkhasibe

Joburg Pimp

Portraits of the City – Central Methodist Church

Check out more of Siyabonga’s work from his albums ‘Film Photography‘, ‘Portraits of the City‘ and ‘Landscape‘:

Awesome Winter Swim

When artist Wilma Britz found herself with a pair of scissors and a collection of images in her hometown of Overberg, something just felt right. As a talented creator of collages, Wilma’s work mashes nostalgic book images and recycles them into incredible works of art that we just love. One of our favourite creations is ‘Little Tribute to Die Antwoord’. Why Die Antwoord? Wilma explains, ‘Just like everyone else, I sat in awe when I saw Enter the Ninja for the very first time. Yo!landi is so aesthetically pleasing. There was no way to resist. Ninja too.’ On a more personal level, Wilma says that at that time, she was struggling as an artist and related to Die Antwoord’s message of never giving up, rejoicing in their unlikely success. So, after getting her hands on a Rolling Stone magazine that featured Die Antwoord, she started collaging the South African zef rappers into her work as a tribute to her new found hope.

When it comes to finding inspiration, Wilma says that simply being a woman brings a lot of ideas, ‘Inspiration coming from experiencing this life in the feminine form on earth and relating to a dreamlike state of wonder of the galactic mystery that surrounds us’. Look out for Wilma’s future projects, which include turning some of her collages into stained glass mosaics. See more of Wilma’s work here.

Winds of War

Yo!Landi

Earth’s Fucked. We’re Off to Space.

Ice Age Waddy

Wrap Like a Parrot Sing LIke a Bird

Wandering …

Yolandi in Pretoria

Pretty cool eh? Check out more of Wilma’s incredible collages taken from her albums ‘These Days‘, ‘Daydreaming by Night‘ and ‘Little Tribute to Die Antwoord‘ in the gallery below: