34
I've been doing a lot more magazine work recently which is amazing - I've always loved shooting with magazines: you get to shoot amazing people in great locations and with a lot of creative freedom. And then you get to see your photographs in print. Awesome.
here is a selection of images made for Real magazine. a South African publication that is part of the Media24 group. Working closely with the Art Director of Real, Sihle Madlala, has been great, we see eye-to-eye on a lot of ideas and he's even been comfortable letting me drag the team out into bizarre locations like a hotel that has been turned into an old age home.
The backstories are nice but the images are what matters. So here we go:
First up we have Mbali Ntuli. Mbali is the leader of the DA Youth League. The DA is a South African political party. Shooting Mbali was a lot of fun. She is a really interesting lady with tons of attitude and charisma. She comes from a family that owns taxis and so the decision was taken to photograph her in a taxi rank, which was an interesting experience.
Next up is Gugu Malanda-Msomi. Gugu is a strong woman who stepped up to let the magazine feature her for an article on overcoming depression. In the first photograph I wanted to retain a sense of calm that she radiates. The second image is a small set myself and the art director Sihle decided to construct. It is made of a big wooden floor and two huge blackboards and lit with a big-ass softbox with flags for spill. Fun.
The next lady is a businesswoman named Thando Baloyi who owns a security company. A security company in South Africa is no small undertaking and chatting to her was very interesting. Calm and in control this is how I wanted to get her presence across in the photograph.
Last for this post is Mampho Brescia, the beautiful South African actress. Mampho is a real professional and working with her was fantastic. We were in an empty hotel room, one of my absolute favorite places to work, and the mood was totally serene. After discussing with Mampho the mood and images I was after she went straight to work bringing those subtle and gentle emotions to life. It was a great collaboration.
