ARTIST STATEMENT
I began working with self-portraiture during the pandemic because I was my only available model. Since then, I have gradually developed a practice in this format, which I continue to explore alongside my commercial photography work.
As an only child, I have always felt quite solitary in the world — but never lonely — as I have learnt how to be with myself, to express myself, and to enjoy my own company. My self-portraiture is an expression of my solace in solitude — a manifestation of my internal creative world through me.
I apply the same lens that I use on my own body to those of my subjects, who are predominantly Black, like myself. My recent work with Wanda Banda serves as a series of figure studies of the actress, who playfully embodied facets of her alien self through our collaboration.
A crucial aspect of my artistic process — and my personal mantra — is to play, because I believe that uninhibited joy is the key to unlocking our inner worlds.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Theodore Afrika was born in Bonteheuwel, Cape Town (1992). He graduated cum laude from Cape Town College in 2012. Since graduation, he has worked his way up through the government sector and the film production industry — first as a stock photographer and later as a photographer’s assistant — until 2019, when he took the leap to become a full-time commercial photographer.
That same year, Hero Creative Agency began representing Afrika, who has since shot international campaigns for brands including Nivea, Meta, and Chivas Regal. His work has taken him around the world, including to Lagos, London, and Bangkok.
In his personal time, he focuses on fine-tuning his artistic photography practice, which includes an unreleased body of self-portraiture created in and around South Africa, as well as conceptual collaborations with local artists. He looks forward to a busy upcoming season — and to the opportunities in between — to continue expanding his body of artistic work.
