Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in NY for two local photographers

Documenting the South African story extends far beyond stills of controversial politicians or local celebrities.

Photographing communities helps build a visual memory of a people - capturing their habits, challenges, and successes.

Reatile Moalusi and Kgomotso Neto Tleane are two Johannesburg-based photographers who have been invited to have their work reviewed in New York.

Moalusi and Tleane are now raising funds to get to the New York Portfolio Review, hosted by the New York Times - where their work will be assessed by their peers.

Moalusi, who studied photography at the Tshwane University of Technology, describes himself as a social awareness photographer.

Two of his works - Roadside Memorial and Mollo Wa Badimo - closely inspects the consequences of South Africa's road fatalities and discussions around Vitiligo - a skin condition that leads to de-pigmentation. 

In Mollo Wa Badimo, consisting of two collections - Pigment and Complex’ion - Moalusi exposes misconceptions of the condition by "focusing on beauty, identity, self-acceptance and the dispelling of societal myths".

Initially, the project was something that stood out visually for him, but says as the project developed “I sort of immersed myself in that personality”.

Taking time to understand his subject is important to ensure the message is communicated in the right way.

But technological advancements have also allowed people, who have a deeper understanding of their own environment, to document their own spaces. 

That is Tleane’s focus - to highlight the everyday.

He has no formal training and started taking pictures with his phone, until he got his hands on a camera.

Tleane shot his Neon project in a tavern he visits often.

As a street photographer he tries to use as much natural light as possible.

In this case, explains Tleane, the building had neon lights at its entrance which constantly changes colour.

As opposed to Moalusi, Tleane does not focus on a specific social issue affecting South African communities, but rather the “ordinary" routines often taken for granted.

“My main thing is to change perceptions of black spaces,” says Tleane,“ about how our people see our spaces,” he says. 

He explains part of his aim is to make people aware of their spaces.

Black narratives have been documented in the past, but these were mostly political or of significant events.

“So for me it’s really important that at this day and age we document the way we live,” he explains.

While both photographers largely document South African stories, both say they will document the people and spaces during their time in New York.

And while they were selected based on two bodies of works that each submitted, they plan to take as many images as possible, to learn as much as they can from the interaction with their peers.