What kind of photographer are you? Its a question so often asked, and one I’m terrible at answering. I know why I fell in love with photography – I like making people feel good. I enjoy creating spaces in which we are seen and heard on our own terms, not minimised to stifling stereotypes. This is particularly true when I photograph womxn, which is the work I hold dearest.
I’m a bi-racial South African woman, daughter to a Coloured father and white German mother. I grew up in a racially diverse, working class neighbourhood of Cape Town and now live in the city bowl, which is affluent by comparison and almost exclusively white. Being an in-betweener has been integral to my search for self and my creative interest lies in this middle ground, in those spaces less readily defined by mainstream political rhetoric but nonetheless meaningful for those who occupy them.
Alongside photography, I’m completing an MA in Creative Writing at UCT, learning to tell stories of race and belonging in post-Apartheid South Africa, of fractured identities, family discord, infertility and marriage, and healing from childhood sexual abuse.
I was lucky enough to have a great mentor in my first two years of shooting professionally, and he gave me an invaluable piece of advice: “If you ever think you’ve got it, stop!” I never want to stop working to improve the output of my craft but output is not what defines me as a creative. What defines me is the feeling I get when the person I’m with feels safe, strong and relevant in her skin. The sense of purpose and clarity I enjoy when
There’s power in us coming together and celebrating our many different selves, and the camera is my tool for connecting and celebrating.
