Themba Mbuyisa remains Mzansi’s in-demand young creative talents of his generation

Contemporary fashion photographer and visual artist Themba Mbuyisa remains one of the most in-demand and exciting young creative talents of his generation. 

The 31-year-old from Dobsonville, Soweto, ascended to photography fame in his 20s, even being selected as one of the lensman for the Sowetan 40 x Netflix campaign. He has continued to capture promo material for the global streaming service’s African original series Blood & Water and Savage Beauty. 

Away from the big commercial project, Mbuyisa remains committed to shining positive light onto Soweto with his latest body of work Colours in Soweto – a collaborative effort with 27-year-old stylist Mpumelelo Mdunge.

“We wanted to photograph the township in the light and way we see it. What anchored the concept was the intrigue behind how stylish black South Africans colour coordinate their outfits,” Mdunge shares.

“So, if they have a green shoe, another piece of garment they are wearing also needs to be green. The inspiration behind the styling is to incorporate this idea through street-wear with a hint of high fashion, while showcasing different local designers such as Nao Serati.”

Pimville served as the backdrop for the project,

“When I got into the shoot and saw how Mpume had styled the looks, I thought it would be interesting to frame the styling using Pimville as the backdrop. This would contrast the matchy-matchy of Mpume’s styling,” Mbuyisa explains.

“I’ve known Mpume through the work we do on set, and he would come in as an assistant stylist on sets. I would often encourage him to go out and do styling on his own. Two years later, he took my advice and called me to work with him.” 

Mbuyisa’s early success came as the stark contrast of his two realities from his upbringing and schooling in Dobsonville, to pursuing the arts and blogging at Wits University in Braamfontein. 

“Most township high schools don’t put emphasis on studying art and is something that only comes later in life. The Saturday classes I attended for English, mathematics and science during high school landed me good marks to study computer science at Wits . But I only completed until the second year because of my bursary,” Mbuyisa says.

“When I got to Wits, I had access to the internet and to blogs. I remember Tumblr, Blogspot were still big and I loved following style and fashion trends. Inspired, I eventually started my own blog with a borrowed cam-coder camera from my older cousin. It was low bad quality images, but I enjoyed that. That was the moment I decided to go into photography.”

Soon after his decision to pursue a qualification in photography, Mbuyisa gained his first nod of recognition for his work as a student which whisked him abroad. Later, he landed a job at a distinguished publication. He quickly understood the balance of the commercial work of photography juxtaposed with the teachings in the lecture halls. Something that he admits was difficult at first but later mastered.  

“Initially, it was hard to balance the commercial aspect of photography with the art aspect. When I left school, I had this huge influence of becoming a contemporary photographer in the art space be in galleries, gaining residences and exhibition openings,” Mbuyisa remembers.

“In May 2014 I participated in the Rural Scapes Arts Residency in São Paulo, Brazil, where I lost out because I didn’t believe in my work. A hard lesson that I have since learned.

“In 2016, I was awarded ELLE Magazine Style Reporter 2016 award winner and I landed a job at the publication. The experience changed the way I look at photography and learned to balance editorial work with artistic expression and make the two co-exist in one world.”  

In the same year Mbuyisa was the Sasol New Signatures Art Competition finalist, SA Most Influential Visual Artist Under 25 years awarded by Student Village and made the shortlist for Mail and Guardian's 200 Young South Africans to Watch.  

“Over the years I’ve been trying to maintain that balance in my work; striking the beautiful contrast between editorial and art,” he says.

It’s this sweet spot in his body of work that holstered Mbuyisa’s rise to be Mzansi in-demand photographer, calling on his skillset for local and international production houses.  

“Fast-forward to the present, my recent highlight would be photographing for Netflix on a frequent basis. I began working with them in 2019 and my most recent work was a promo material for Savage Beauty earlier this year. My focus right now is to maintain a consistent client base and continue to be relevant in the art space,” Mbuyisa says.

“Work now and you will see the fruits later. Enjoy the work that you do now, and with passion and love, you will see the fruits later,” he advises aspirant photographers.