Collection: Mandisa Buthelezi

Born in 1991, in Empangeni, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Mandisa Buthelezi is a photographer and filmmaker who was raised in the township of Umlazi, in Durban.

Drawn to the rural life of KwaZulu-Natal, she began her journey as a self-taught photographer documenting the social and cultural landscape that exists within the rural and peri-urban areas of the province.

Buthelezi provides photographic content that is country-life centered and explores the notions of culture, identity and spirituality. Buthelezi’s work moves between colour and black and white with the aim of positioning her imagery in the centre of conversation and reflection between cultural advancement and time dimensions. The importance of cataloguing and documenting African culture through visual art has become an important component of her work through work assignments. This has shaped her notion of sustaining the culture that surrounds her.