Location: Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Research Centre: Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies

“Any work that is of interest to me is the kind of work that urges me to ask diverse questions. The questions that we are driven to ask emanate from our understanding or lack of understanding of a certain culture. I spend years researching and understanding my subject matter, and I try to focus on the positive and avoid the spectacle. Aesthetics plays a major role when considering the construction of a photograph. Colour, texture and the pose are vital elements of the image. It is very important to me, in terms of aesthetics, to portray something that I find beautiful.” Zwelethu Mthethwa

While in residence, Zwelethu will be exploring the part that communities play in contributing to health research. The outcomes of his residency may include an exhibition in the Umkhanyakude district of KwaZulu-Natal.

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  First impressions

  "Zwelethu Mthethwa arrived on Sunday evening after a rather long journey from Cape Town to Mtubatuba. With a sense of nervousness and anticipation I went to meet him."

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  Interests and approach

  "With the proposed photographic project, Zwelethu Mthethwa intends to visually define the Mtubatuba community that Africa Centre is working with, subverting the dehumanisation inherent in statistics, and instead emphasising the human faces attached to the data."

 

Zwelethu began his residency in May 2012.

Zwelethu Mthethwa’s CV [PDF,111KB]

Image: Zwelethu Mthethwa. Photo © Jurie Senekal, 2007