Mutalusi "Mazilitha" Phalandwa has always known that he was born to do something creative in his life and soon found his true passion in photography. Mazilitha (21) is already known in different sport circles, where he often takes excellent action photos during matches. He also takes photos at weddings and parties, which he sometimes shares on his Facebook page.
Mazilitha is in the final year of doing his bachelor of science degree in recreation at the University of Venda. He started experimenting with photography in 2020 with one of his friends' camera, and today he makes a living from it. "I enjoy my work very much. People like my photographs and respect me for the quality work I produce," he said.
He explained that he loved photography because it gave him an opportunity to see the world from a different perspective. It gives him a chance to tell a unique story through the lens and his ability to create art and to meet different people in the process. "I never formally studied photography. It was a natural gift that developed after I studied the work of local photographer Lesley Shivambu of Backpage," he said.
According to Mazilitha, a good photographer is one who notices things others are oblivious to. "Most of my photos are of ordinary subjects but taken in an extraordinary manner, be it the lighting, angle, contrast, background, foreground, or focal length. Keeping on learning new things every day makes my photographic skills grow," he said.
"Photography is more than a hobby of shooting things and people for me. I find it hard to express myself in words, so photography is a channel that I use to express my feelings."
He is currently teaching other young people photographic skills and hopes they will use them to create their own jobs in the future.