NONDUMISO SHANGE

WHO IS NONDUMISO AND WHERE DID YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY JOURNEY BEGIN?

My name is Nondumiso Shange. I’m a 22 year old black woman living in South Africa. With regards to how my photography started. Initially I started taking pictures as a child. I had those little Nintendos with a camera on them and I would take photos of my family when we were on vacation like in the Drakensberg for example. Little things from there is where I started being in love with the concept of photography and capturing moments.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER MEDIUMS YOU DABBLE IN?

I dabble in videography. I’m currently trying to get into cinematography, my other love is film and film making and getting into the depths of films. From a young age I’d watch a lot of movies. I think that had to do with my love for photography and getting into the whole craft eventually.

PLEASE GIVES US 3 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOUR WORK, AND ELABORATE ON THOSE?

Encompassing. Youthful. Cinematic. A lot of my inspiration comes from family vacations. In my creative bio I wrote that a lot of the time I like to get inspiration from different pieces whether in a new country or a new place in JHB - a club, or restaurant. I like to explore and get inspiration from my surroundings. In the past year my sister and I went to South Korea. The way people dress there, the mannerisms, even the little detailing in the city and buses. Even with a new film or show, that could be a source of inspiration in terms of taking you to a new place. When you watch a foreign film from Brazil for example like City of God, you can’t not be inspired. So yes, new experiences, new places.

Also, growing up in South Africa and seeing your different traditions under your different subgroups of black people like your Zulu’s’, Xhosa’s, Tswana etc. - I think that’s a source of inspiration that I want to delve more into.

HOW DOES TRAVEL INFLUENCE/SHAPE YOUR WORK?

As soon as I enter a new space I immediately get mesmerised. One of my favourite places that I’ve travelled to with my family is Hong Kong and prior to travelling to Hong Kong I had been a big fan of Wong Kar-wai, a big Hong Kong director. Just neon lights, like little things about a city, gets me excited.

I SEE FROM YOUR INSTAGRAM YOU HAVE MOVIE INSPIRATION. WHAT’S SOME OF YOUR OTHER INFLUENCES AND INSPIRATIONS?

Another movie that I like a lot and source my inspiration from is ‘Moonlight’. I really love the depiction of black people. There’s not a lot of representation of black queer men that is not in a negative or traumatic light. I thought the way they portrayed black male gay love was beautiful and it’s something I’d love to portray in my own work. I’ve got a couple of projects lined up that I hope will present that. In terms of artists, another source of inspiration is Tony Gum. She’s an amazing South African artist and every time I look at her work I get mesmerised.

DO YOU SHARE YOUR LIVED EXPERIENCES THROUGH YOUR WORK?

Yes and no. Going back to the world encompassing. Because I have been exposed to many places and it’s many different aspects of what I’m seeing and not necessarily a representation of my own life. And what I said prior, that’s something I do want to delve into with my own Zulu culture, with my own South African heritage, with blackness - all of that is what I want to delve into with my future work. Also, representing black women in a specific way and black queer women in a specific way. That’s where I hope my work leads to.