Lindokuhle Sobekwa

 Lindokuhle Sobekwa is a South African documentary photographer born in Johannesburg. Sobekwa started photography in 2012 through the Of Soul and Joy Project. This was a program ran in high school in the township Thokoza. Through this program, Sobekwa was able to meet his mentors Bieke Depoorter, Cyprien Clément-Delmas, Thabiso Sekgala, Tjorven Bruyneel and Kutlwano Moagi. 

Sobekwa worked on a variety of projects and one of his first ones features poverty and unemployment in South Africa. He also documented the drug epidemic that South Africa experiences. Sobekwa was really recognized through his project Nyaope: Everything you do my Boss, will do. His project was published in newspapers and even made its way to Vice Magazine. Sobekwa has sense made his way around to become a member of Magnum, to continue projects, to be features on different platforms, and to have his work recognized in different galleries and exhibits. 

When Sobekwa joined Magnum, he started a photo series project called I Carry Her Photos With Me. This project was inspired by the disappearance of Sobekwa's sister Ziyanda. This was a way for him to search for his sister and to shed light onto the unfortunate situation. This project was turned into a limited edition photo book which was handmade and exhibited in the African Cosmologies exhibition.  

For the project I Carry Her Photos With Me, Sobekwa only had one photo of his sister and it was a family portrait which had her face cut out. This was because for her funeral, they needed a picture and this was the only one the family had. It was in 2002 when Sobekwa and his sister were arguing over money. Ziyanda chased Sobekwa which resulted in him getting hit by a car. It was since then that Sobekwa didn't see his sister for 15 years; she ran away. In the series, Sobekwa goes around in search for answers on who his sister was for the 15 years she was away from home. Sobekwa's camera allowed him to speak to people who knew Ziyanda and to gain access to their life. This series include words, photos, notes, and documented life that pertained to Ziyanda. Sobekwa has done an amazing job in capturing and being about to properly excuse the life of his sister through color, black and white, writings, photos, and more. This series in particular has made me interested in possibly starting my own photo book, a series, on a cause or situation that I can relate to and many others can learn about. 

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