Photography has nothing to do with cameras

"Photgraphy has nothing to do with cameras" , this is one thing I've realised thanks to the lady responsible for majority of the shots featured on this blog thus far. Instead photgraphy is an extension of Thando Sithole's art.

Thando is a third year Political Science and International Relations student who started using photgraphy as a medium of expression after she realized that she was pretty good at it (which she is).

Thando describes her art as abstract and unique in the sense that she paves her own way through her drawings by creating her concepts. She describes her style as different but true. The aim is to maintain and capture the truth in her photos and her art, this means that nothing is unatural or forced, this is evident in her photos as you can feel the presence of her shots.

Thando's work is mainly published on her vsco which she enjoys because the vsco community is separate from other social media platforms that are visually inspired in the sense that you upload your work because of the love of photgraphy and not for the purpose of incentives in the form of likes or reblogs/tweets for example.

It is this reason that makes the site organic and allows Thando to showcase what she does on a daily basis.

Through this platform Thando hopes to break into the international sphere, although she is not seeking international gratification - "I don't care about America" , she says. It is through her international audience that she would like to add to the African creative industry.

"It is important for artists and photographers to be true to themselves, their environments and their cultures", says Thando. In being true to one's self , you push the aesthetic, love and culture of being an African. In Thando's case , this is a Black South African woman, who empowers Africa without imitating Western conceptions of art.

Thando explains that as artists, whatever one does, the focus should be clear- "as much as you wanna eat,do it for the art" , if you're doing it for the money a lot of opportunities are lost, because you may miss out on certain opportunities to create simply because it doesn't pay well. "You have to compromise between creating and remuneration."

The main reason this post is titled as it is, is for the reason that Thando is currently using only her cellphone to capture moments, this however does not alter the quality of the work that she produces. For one , it has not been easy finding someone to help me with photography who is affordable, reliable, offers good direction and is quick with regards to the outputs of shoots. I have encountered many , who own the tools associated with photography but produce average work.

I firmly believe that the reason I the work produced by Thando and also working with her, is because of the truth in her work, as said by Robert Frank- “There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment.”

In my opinion Thando is not even close to her peak , the work she produces now is already amazing, I cannot even begin to imagine what she will produce when she invests in the additional tools to advance her work.

Head over to vsco.co/sitho to check out more of her images.

For shoots and more information tweet or dm Thando on twitter : @I_R_msTeee

or

Instagram: @thandz_e

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