Photo: X Fotomat website launch: Introducing Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo
Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo (b. 1993) is a photographer based in Lawley, Johannesburg. He uses the shebeen run by his parents as a studio in which to investigate themes of first-hand and generational trauma, violence and memory. Hlatshwayo was mentored by the photographer Jabulani Dhlamini and photography curator and educator John Fleetwood.
He won the 2019 CAP Prize for Contemporary African Photography with his series Slaghuis I.
His work has been featured in group exhibitions at Fotomuseum Winterthur, IAF Basel Festival, and Johannesburg’s Turbine Art Fair.
Hlatshwayo was the Gisèle Wulfsohn Photography Mentorship Recipient for 2019. He held his first solo exhibition, Slaghuis II at the Market Photo Workshop in February 2020, and was an overall winner of the international Blurring the Lines photo award for 2020. His work will be featured at the upcoming Addis Foto Fest in December 2021.
Hlatshwayo is represented by Photo:, Johannesburg
About Slaghuis II
Slaghuis II is a search for what it means to be marked by violence. ‘Slaghuis’ is an Afrikaans word for a literal place of slaughter and a vernacular expression for a place of violence that had come to identify the tavern where Hlatshwayo grew up.
He transforms the familiar spaces of home and tavern into the studio, taking up violence as a visual language. Slaghuis II marks a second chapter in this ongoing body of work, produced as the 2019 Gisèle Wulfsohn Mentorship Recipient of the Market Photo Workshop. Hlatshwayo was mentored by John Fleetwood.
Muttering sweat, walking on the edge of a crouch,
the creasing, spoiling, buzzing carcass on my shoulder.
I’m the butcher man’s playground.
A red drenching devil with a falling gait.
He dances on top of the pool table.
Uz’ anukelwe yigazi.
An exploding head, screams shuffled on the playlist,
the scurrying bodies collage themselves in the toilet.
An eye bag sliced open.
Screams are swallowed by blood running into a gaping mouth.
Kill the music.
He bangs the gate with a violence that wails war, awaking a body shuddering
fire…”bang it to the ground, you fuck”.
Into yoku dlalela.
Siph’ isthunzi?
I’m the butcher man.
My home. His playground.
Photo: has partnered with visual website builder Fotomat to create websites showcasing the talents of nine African photographers. Aimed at increasing visibility of the photographers’ work and contemporary African photography as a whole at a time when Covid-19 has shifted interactions and engagement online, the websites play a pivotal role in creating platforms to showcase important work from across the continent.
The websites have officially been launched on 15 September 2021.
Visit Thembinkosi’s website here: https://thembinkosihlatshwayo.onfotomat.com
About Photo:
Photo: is a multi-operation platform for the development and promotion of socially engaged photography practices, photographers, and critical visual culture.
Through curatorial and educational projects throughout the African continent and beyond, Photo: promotes emerging and practicing photographers and photography with the aim to encourage critical and experimental approaches/responses, that challenge and stimulate how we think about photography and our world.
Further, through commissioning, producing and connecting photography projects and practitioners, Photo: wants to encourage dialogue, exchange, engagement and participation.
Central to its vision, is the idea that photography can be a delicate tool for social change.
Learn more about Photo::
About Fotomat:
Fotomat was built by the makers of Viewbook, a photo sharing platform and portfolio website builder for professionals that was founded in 2009.
Over the past two years the Fotomat team worked with artists, art educators, and photo industry professionals as part of a publication called "Transformations, Exploring Changes in and Around Photography". During this process it became apparent that there is a need for new and different ways to show image based work on the internet.
Disciplinary lines are blurred more and more every day, and many image makers are mixing video with still photography and other media in their work. They are looking for new ways to tell stories. To fill this void, the observations and ideas learned from Transformations have been applied to Fotomat and will benefit anyone looking to make a visual website, be it a simple portfolio or an immersive online exhibition.
Learn more about Fotomat:
For more information:
visit https://www.phototool.co.za/ or email info@phototool.co.za.
Learn more about the nine photographers selected to create websites with Photo: and Fotomat at https://www.phototool.co.za/2020/2021/9/15/photo-x-fotomat-launch-nine-websites-for-rising-african-photographers-1?fbclid=IwAR22N6Ds5ZyxI6O4RrRjmDrLcPjXXd7aHYFurhpJD5oeARW8zXP17Sjj88E
Websites for South African photographers were supported in part by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.
Posted 15/11/2021.