Sign up to our newsletter and become a Club Huck member.

Stay informed with the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture

Sydelle Willow Smith

Answers On A Postcard — Next up in our Answers On A Postcard series, a visual q&a where photographers answer questions with their images, is South African documentary photographer Sydelle Willow Smith.

To celebrate Huck 46: The Documentary Photography Special II, our annual celebration of visual storytelling, we are having a Huck website takeover – Shoot Your World – dedicated to the personal stories behind the photographs we love.

In this regular series, Answers On A Postcard, we ask photographers to get existential and respond to a visual q&a with their images. Sydelle Willow Smith’s own search for identity guides her lens. The South African photographer was born in Johannesburg and is now based in Cape Town, while working on a Masters degree in African Studies through Oxford University. Sydelle brings her training in Social Anthropology to her photography and explores the multiple layers of identity that we construct around ourselves.

Answers On A Postcard #6

Who are you?

Sydelle-Willow-Smith-Huck-1

Sydelle Willow Smith.

What does home feel like?

Sydelle-Willow-Smith-Huck-2

Wherever I have made it.

What does faith look like?

Sydelle-Willow-Smith-Huck-3

Ephemeral beauty.

What’s your greatest fear?

Sydelle-Willow-Smith-Huck-4

The habit of setting impossible expectations for myself.

What keeps you up at night?

Sydelle-Willow-Smith-Huck-5

Waking from wild dreams in the darkest hours of the night.

What helps you sleep?

Sydelle-Willow-Smith-Huck-6

Quiet neighbours.

What’s the meaning of life?

Sydelle-Willow-Smith-Huck-7

The life-long quest for a lasting sense of inner calm.

Find out more about Sydelle Willow Smith.


You might like

Activism

The last days of St Agnes Place, London’s longest ever running squat

Off the grid — Photographer Janine Wiedel spent four years documenting the people of the Kennington squat, who for decades made a forgotten row of terraced houses a home.

Written by: Isaac Muk

© Mitsutoshi Hanaga. Courtesy of Mitsutoshi Hanaga Project Committee
Culture

How Japan revolutionised art & photography in the ’60s and ’70s

From Angura to Provoke — A new photobook chronicles the radical avant-garde scene of the postwar period, whose subversion of the medium of image making remains shocking and groundbreaking to this day.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Culture

Artifaxing: “We’ve become so addicted to these supercomputers in our hands”

Framing the future — Predominantly publishing on Instagram and X, the account is one of social media’s most prominent archiving pages. We caught up with the mysterious figure behind it to chat about the internet’s past, present and future, finding inspiration and art in the age of AI.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Culture

The lacerating catharsis of body suspension in Hong Kong

Self-Ferrying — In one of the world’s most densely packed cities, an underground group of young people are piercing their skin and hanging their bodies with hooks in a shocking exploration of pain and pleasure. Sophie Liu goes to a session to understand why they partake in the extreme underground practice.

Written by: Sophie Liu

Culture

What we’re excited for at SXSW 2026

Austin 40 — For the festival’s 40th anniversary edition, we are heading to Texas to join one of the biggest global meetups of the year. We’ve selected a few things to highlight on your schedules.

Written by: Huck

Activism

In photos: The boys of the Bibby Stockholm

Bibby Boys — A new exhibition by Theo McInnes and Thomas Ralph documents the men who lived on the three-story barge in Dorset, giving them the chance to control their own narrative. 

Written by: Thomas Ralph

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members.

You've read articles this month Thanks for reading

Join Club Huck — it's free!

Valued Huck reader, thank you for engaging with our journalism and taking an interest in our dispatches from the sharp edge of culture, sport, music and rebellion.

We want to offer you the chance to join Club Huck [it's free!] where you will receive exclusive newsletters, including personal takes on the state of pop culture and media from columnist Emma Garland, culture recommendations, interviews and dispatches straight to your inbox.

You'll also get priority access to Huck events, merch discounts, and more fun surprises.

Already part of the club? Enter your email above and we'll get you logged in.

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.