The young South African photographers you need to follow on Instagram
- Text by Alex King
- Photography by Sipho Mpongo
Now more than ever, South Africa is a land of contrasts. Post-apartheid, the country has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, yet suffers from striking inequalities.
There are no “Whites Only” signs any more, but tensions remain between the country’s many races. While it struggles with epidemic levels of violence, it’s fast emerging as a creative powerhouse.
There’s still a lot to be done to live up to the promise of the Rainbow Nation, but one thing is for certain: South Africa is never boring.
To understand the complicated place they call home, three of South Africa’s brightest young photographers came together as Twenty Journey.
Sipho Mpongo, Sean Metelerkamp and Wikus de Wet crowdfunded a journey around the country and shared the story in Huck’s Documentary Photography Special III.
We reached out to the trio to find out who we should be following on Instagram for a fresh, young perspective on the new South Africa.
Sipho Mpongo:
Imraan Christian – @imraanchristian
Imraan Christian is a young, energetic photographer who is very active and conscious of the state of the country. He is doing a good job at making us remember our past as we yearn for the future.
Andile Buka – @buka_andile
Andile Buka documents the imaginary aspect of our lives and there is a poetic feel to how he presses his shutter button. It’s quiet, more like the secret you should not know.
Reatile Moalusi – @reatilemoalusi
Reatile captures the extraordinary of our lives.
Sean Metelerkamp:
Kyle Weeks – @_kyleweeks_
A young dude whose eye I am keen to watch develop. His latest, soon to be released, series involving palm trees (without giving too much away) is going to blow people away.
David Southwood – @crockette1
His new series in Lesotho are some of the most beautiful images I have seen come out of South Africa in recent times. Keep an eye out for when that drops as a body of work.
Kristin-Lee Moolman – @kristinleemoolman
JOBURG! FRESH!
Wikus de Wet:
Ilan Godfrey – @ilangodfrey
Ilan focuses mostly on long term projects. He focuses on subject matter that I take great interest in. It is great to see some of the more recent things he photographs on his Instagram feed.
Alexia Webster – @alexiawebster
Alexia travels a lot for assignments. It is always great to see South African stories in between her Instagram feed of her travels.
Ihsaan Haffejee – @ihsaan_haffo
Always interesting to see the diversity in Ihsaan’s instagram feed. Reminds me that South Africa is a magnificently puzzled country.
To find out more about Twenty Journey, grab a copy of Huck’s Documentary Photography Special III here or subscribe to make sure you don’t miss another issue.
You might like
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
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
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
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
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
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
