Movement and Stillness - Thandile Zwelibanzi

Chosen from 5 winners of a contest held in cooperation with the magazine Camera Austria and the Photo Market Workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thandile Zwelibanzi came to Austria to document the summer academy the way he sees it. Yesterday, our photograper in residence presented some of his previous photographic series, starting with one about hands. He is fascinated by them as we "can create with them, make our lives move, but also wreak havoc. They contain so many possible things." All the pictures were taken in the streets of Johannesburg, as are those in the next series he presents, called "Traders".

As he shows the images of those people next to their little stands, stuck in these situations while everybody else moves, always worried about the police and the dangers the night holds, it becomes apparent how connected Thandile Zwelibanzi is with the environment he is in. As he himself says: "They are always there, fixed in one place. I got interested and began wondering how they got there in the first place." It often took him a week just to get a single photo, as the traders saw him as an outsider and he needed to gain their trust through conversations before he could even show up with a camera in his hand.

The last series he shows was a lot easier to take. In stark black and white, he photographed young men training in a township gym. Proudly showing their bulk as they lift weights and do pushups, they one day intend to be as big as mountains. Asked about how he will show the summer academy, he laughs. So far, he is taking in everything, not wanting to limit himself to any specific topic. Whatever will come out in the end, it will be fascinating for sure.