KATLEHO MAVUNDLA

“You can not travel within and stand still without” these words by philosophical writer James Allen really sums up my takeaway from the conversation with Photographer Katleho Mavunda. It’s a realisation that as we unfold and grow through seasons of change, our outer reality will project these circled moments of shifts that happen within. Katleho LATCHES ONTO WHAT HIS CREATIVE EYE MAY REVEAL TO HIM AND HE WELCOMES IT. He takes one medium and translates it into another and another. This he calls is a ‘Transdisciplinary’ approach to his work. As a big communicator with an intuitive nature, Katleho is on a journey to get sharpened in his craft as he exists through a bag of his talents.

WHERE YOU’RE FROM AND WHERE IT STARTED FOR YOU?

My name is Katleho Mavundla. I’m a brother, I’m a son. I’m an imaginer, I create worlds in my head. I’m inspired by art and I think that’s one of the reasons I’m able to participate in it. It inspires a lot of my everyday life. I feel like a lot of things happen in my life and then they meet a point of completion and then other new parts of my life…… so far Facebook * I have a very strong spiritual background. That means every Sunday I’m looking good. My mom made sure I look good everyday for church and that was one of the days I capitalised on taking a lot of pictures and so started the journey of being involved with the art space. I always tell people when tumblr was a thing I never had tumblr but then I used to recreate pictures that looked like they came from tumblr. So I’d take my own picture, add a couple of layers, add tumblr and add my address (zendaya error).

I went to film school later in my life. That chapter of my life opened where I looked at photography differently. It was the first time I looked at photography technically. I went through varsity. When I did my internship *** I was exposed to a world where you have to compress time, and compress time into two minutes or a minute of a commercial. So, that technical understanding allowed me to understand what I wanna create. I wanted to hop into the space as my own director in my own language and own kind of stories. That’s led me to capturing portraits of people’s d then capturing time. It’s been a learning experience.

ANY PROJECTS YOU WORKED ON THAT WERE VERY SIGNIFICANT TO YOU AND SHOWED YOU YOUR STRENGTHS AS WELL AS YOUR WEAKNESSES?

Even I don’t think there’s a project that changes me. I’m really rooted in being a student so I think I really learn from what

One thing I appreciate is that there’s always something to learn. Sometimes I’m figuring out a logistical problem that I could solve next time. Other times I’m solving casting problems and Sometimes it’s the environment because I also shoot event photography and you have as little control as the person you’re shooting. Everything has taught me something different to an extent that photography has taught me people skills where I walk up to people and ask “could I grab a picture of you”. In a world of multi hyphenated artists I really consider myself a trans disciplinary artist

YOU MENTION THAT YOU GO INTO OTHER WORLDS WITH YOUR WORK. WHO ARE YOU IN THOSE IMAGINATIVE WORLDS THROUGH ESCAPISM?

I get bored easily. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a Gemini. Towards my work and towards the things that I wanna do I always have this childlike approach so first it has to make me excited. I need to know that when someone makes me angry I can run to this thing that makes me feel safe. For instance with my poetry, it’s what’s always made me feel better and I feel like I’m expressing myself. Even with photography, when I document people there’s this childlike anticipation of “I wonder what this picture is gonna look like” or like I wonder how people are gonna see what I see and if it translates. For my film it allows me to tap into worlds that I see everyday. Some of them are wolves that I’m not a part of anymore, some are worlds that I want to be a part of, some are worlds that my friends are a part of. That childlike approach allows me to have fun. It feels safe. It feels risky as well because you never know who is welcoming of this child.

WHAT’S SOME OF THE TECHNIQUES YOU USE TO PRODUCE A SATISFACTORY BODY OF WORK?

I’m really driven by emotion and I really want to portray a lot of emotion in the work that I do. My writing is influenced by sad love stories and with portraits I want people to see the person’s emotion. In my film work too, someone’s eyes could show so much emotion: lust, fear. So moving to portrait photography was a more appreciated transaction from what I normally do. The technique for me is to always look for emotion and recreate the emotion. Emotion has been the core. Anything else for me is a medium of technique. But the technique right now is to show emotion in my work and allow myself to be a catalyst of emotion.

YOU EXPRESS YOURSELF THROUGH POETRY TOO. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU DABBLE IN?

A skill that I’m developing right now is Film Directing. I’m writing a script right now called ‘Portia’. So, writing and directing for short feature films is part of my goals as I grow as an artist. That’s why I say in a world of multi-hyphenated artist’s I’m transdisciplinary because everything I do informs everything. I can take a short poem and turn it into a longer script and turn that into a longer film or translate it into copywrite, which can be a creative direction. A transdisciplinary approach to my artistry and my growth. The biggest thing about that theory is that it centres me as a student more than it makes me a master.

WHAT’S A MANTRA YOU GO BY THAT GETS YOU BY?

To service people with the God given skills that I have. I do think I am at a point where I hope to grow my community and grow people that will hear the message that I have. So, servicing those people who get to touch and view my work. If my work is going to start a revolution or if it’s going to heal a broken heart and make one less nigga feel like heartbreaks are the most terrible - to look at me and be like I also went through heartbreaks. I’ve tried to put my work into 3 pillars and that’s communication, community and connection.

LET’S TALK ABOUT COMPOSITION. IS THERE A SPECIFIC WAY YOU ARRANGE VISUAL ELEMENTS WITHIN YOUR FRAME? OR IS IT SOMETHING YOU DECIDE ON SET AND IT UNFOLDS RIGHT THERE AND THEN

A recent obsession you want to bring forth in front of the camera? Or subject matter you wish to play around with? I’m a real firm believer of love. I’m a healthy amount of simple. I love love. I love seeing people thrive in the presence of love. I have this long existing obsession which I’m currently refining. In the time of refining I think I’ll get to a point where I can present it to its utmost truth and my truth.