JOHN BALOYI
Photographer
Not many photographers still shoot
on film, but for John Baloyi, the
handmade allure of analog is too
romantic and dramatic to resist.
Capturing mostly portraits – sometimes
of fashionable strangers in his almost-
cinematic Johannesburg street-style
photography; other times of his wife
and muse Itumeleng Baloyi – his is
a body of work that celebrates love and
the way it makes people see the world.
The couple has formed an artistic duo
called The Baloyis that aims to ‘portray
people of colour as works of art’.
They’ ve already created campaigns
for brands like MRP, adidas and Bisquit
Cognac, but the future, Baloyi explains,
is looking a little different to what he
and Itumeleng are currently producing.
‘Working on those previous projects
was special to me because I got to work
with my wife and a small team of our
closest friends, and we managed to put
together really beautiful work,’ he says.
‘Now, we’ve shifted our focus to fine art
and documentary photography. I feel
that there aren’t enough young people
shooting meaningful and intentional
content, and we aim to breathe new
life into this genre of photography.’
behance.net/johnbaloyi
LESEGO BANTSHENG
Architect
There’s nothing we love more than
great architecture that works towards
a more just and equal society – which is
exactly the sort of work that landscape
architect Lesego Bantsheng is creating.
Bantsheng won the 2018 Corobrik
Landscape Architecture Award for
Pula! A Ene: Rain! Let it Rain – Occupying
Land in Restituted Barolong Homelands,
her Masters thesis that challenges the
notions of what a ‘modern’ African city
could be when compared to the complex
dynamics of a traditional rural African
village. But more than a thesis, the work
is a powerful reflection of her own story.
‘I’ve always been a nomad, a child
who left home to pursue her dreams.
In the first year of my Masters, I lost
my mother. In that moment, I realised
how little I knew her,’ says Bantsheng.
‘She sought a rural life, but we, her
children, convinced her that urban life
was necessary for our growth. So she
lived in Mafikeng and commuted every
day to work at a hospital in a village close
to where she grew up. The introspection
around her passing made me realise how
far I was from home, both physically and
emotionally, which inspired me to write
my thesis about issues affecting villages
near my hometown.’ uhuruheritagePASCALE THERON
Textile designer
Pascale Theron’s work is hard to
categorise, falling somewhere between
art, craft and design. The 26 year old’s
past projects range from illustrating
children’s books and conceptualising
build-it-yourself forts to creating
culturally clever textiles (like her
painfully honest White Guilt quilt).
But it’s her Feathered Fabrics that
have really caught people’s attention,
with Theron taking individual ostrich
feathers and making them into a yarn
that is then handwoven into cloth.
‘I’ve showed my Feathered Fabrics
at various shows and talks, and people
always seem shocked that I have the
skill to make fabrics using thread made
from ostrich feathers,’ Theron says.
‘But I get a lot of pleasure submerging
myself in a new craft. If you think of
where craft has taken us historically,
who knows what could come next?’
Ethically sourcing her feathers
from ostrich farms in Oudtshoorn,
Theron says she aims to transform
the material into an organic yet
cruelty-free functional interior fabric.
‘Making things by hand is central to my
perspective on design, and I’m striving
to create a new craft through these
feathered textiles.’ pascaletheron.com