The young South African photographers you need to follow on Instagram
- Text by Alex King
- Photography by Sipho Mpongo
Now more than ever, South Africa is a land of contrasts. Post-apartheid, the country has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, yet suffers from striking inequalities.
There are no “Whites Only” signs any more, but tensions remain between the country’s many races. While it struggles with epidemic levels of violence, it’s fast emerging as a creative powerhouse.
There’s still a lot to be done to live up to the promise of the Rainbow Nation, but one thing is for certain: South Africa is never boring.
To understand the complicated place they call home, three of South Africa’s brightest young photographers came together as Twenty Journey.
Sipho Mpongo, Sean Metelerkamp and Wikus de Wet crowdfunded a journey around the country and shared the story in Huck’s Documentary Photography Special III.
We reached out to the trio to find out who we should be following on Instagram for a fresh, young perspective on the new South Africa.
Sipho Mpongo:
Imraan Christian – @imraanchristian
Imraan Christian is a young, energetic photographer who is very active and conscious of the state of the country. He is doing a good job at making us remember our past as we yearn for the future.
Andile Buka – @buka_andile
Andile Buka documents the imaginary aspect of our lives and there is a poetic feel to how he presses his shutter button. It’s quiet, more like the secret you should not know.
Reatile Moalusi – @reatilemoalusi
Reatile captures the extraordinary of our lives.
Sean Metelerkamp:
Kyle Weeks – @_kyleweeks_
A young dude whose eye I am keen to watch develop. His latest, soon to be released, series involving palm trees (without giving too much away) is going to blow people away.
David Southwood – @crockette1
His new series in Lesotho are some of the most beautiful images I have seen come out of South Africa in recent times. Keep an eye out for when that drops as a body of work.
Kristin-Lee Moolman – @kristinleemoolman
JOBURG! FRESH!
Wikus de Wet:
Ilan Godfrey – @ilangodfrey
Ilan focuses mostly on long term projects. He focuses on subject matter that I take great interest in. It is great to see some of the more recent things he photographs on his Instagram feed.
Alexia Webster – @alexiawebster
Alexia travels a lot for assignments. It is always great to see South African stories in between her Instagram feed of her travels.
Ihsaan Haffejee – @ihsaan_haffo
Always interesting to see the diversity in Ihsaan’s instagram feed. Reminds me that South Africa is a magnificently puzzled country.
To find out more about Twenty Journey, grab a copy of Huck’s Documentary Photography Special III here or subscribe to make sure you don’t miss another issue.
Latest on Huck
Vibrant photos of New York’s Downtown performance scene
‘Balloons and Feathers’ is an eclectic collection of images documenting the scene for over two decades.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Picking through the rubble: Glimpses of hope in the US election results
Clambering through the wreckage of the Harris campaign, delving deeper into the election results and building on the networks that already exist, all hope is not gone writes Ben Smoke.
Written by: Ben Smoke
US Election night 2024 in Texas
Photographer Tom “TBow” Bowden travelled to Republican and Democratic watch parties around Houston, capturing their contrasting energies as results began to flow in.
Written by: Isaac Muk
In photos: “Real life is not black and white” – Polaroid x Magnum Open Call winners
See pictures from the competition organised by two titans of contemporary photography, which called upon artists to reject the digitalisation and over-perfectionism of our modern world, technology and image-making.
Written by: Huck
In photos: Rednecks with Paychecks
‘American Diesel’ is a new photo series that looks at the people, places and culture behind the stereotypes of rural America.
Written by: Ben Smoke
How do you solve a problem like the music industry?
Beyond the Music is a conference and grassroots festival bringing together people from across the industry to try and grapple with the biggest issues facing it.
Written by: Ben Smoke