Call me TomBae

BACKGROUND

My childhood memories are very suppressed, I think. I do not remember a lot, in fact, I chose not to remember a lot. But I do remember my sister and my mother because it was always the three of us, until four years ago when my brother was born. There was nothing that was spectacular about my childhood, except that I was very shy. The fact that I chose to suppress a lot of memories; I think it is how I choose to base my photography on, because sometimes I could be just walking around, and then I see something that triggers me from my past and I take a picture of it. I guess most of my work now, says a lot about my childhood. The viewer has to look at it some typ’ o’ way.

WHO IS MO, NOW?

Mo is still a very shy person, I think. But I think she’s also a very humble and she has learnt the atomy of patience and I think I’m a very cool person but sometimes I think of how I make other people feel when I’m chilling with them, which is why I think I am a good person. I always try to lend a helping hand where I can and it gets me really sad when I can’t help someone in need that frustrates me so much. I’m a very sensitive person but not a vocal person about them, so I choose to reveal my emotions through shots.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU IN LIFE?

Everyday things like, the people that I see, the faces, the natural lighting that is just everywhere, the music that I listen to and also the pictures that I see.

WHEN DID YOU FALL INLOVE WITH PHOTOGRAPHY?

First I fell in love with being in front of a camera and back then I thought I was really dope. I liked pictures being taken of me, I just thought I was too dope, hahaha… I don’t know what happened to that because I really thought I was amazing. That is when I fell in love with photography but the actual art of taking pictures, I’d say it was 2013, when I actually started studying Photography.

YOU’RE A QUALIFIED PHOTOGRAPHER NOW, WHAT ARE THE PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?

Well, now it’s safe to say that my plans of working for the biggest advertising creative agency in the country have just became a reality. But before this, my plans have and always have been to teach Photography, and that still remains at the top of the list of my long term plans. I wanna teach people how to take pictures that mean something to and them that they can relate to on a personal level, so that even when people ask them about the picture, they are able to tell a story that the viewer can relate to too.

INTRINSIC MELANIN

That was my first ever solo exhibition, it was really exciting. I can’t really say it was the plan all along to have that in the end because the first shots of Intrinsic Melanin were taken a year ago and the last shot of it were taken a week before the exhibition. Basically, Intrinsic Melanin was about transparency in a world where, as an artist, not everybody will like, accept or understand your work. Just because some people won’t like or understand your work, doesn’t mean you should stop doing what you love. So I chose to show that, using an albino person who is going through the same thing. Some people don’t understand that and they don’t want to be associated with it but it doesn’t mean that Rashid (the model) shouldn’t feel comfortable in his own skin. It was basically depicting two issues in one photo.

HOW WAS THE EXPERIENCE (SOLO EXHIBITION)?

It was nerve wrecking, especially the Bloem First Friday walk-about because that was the first time when I had to showcase my work and have a Q&A on it too.

LIFE HAS LESSONS EVERY DAY AND SOMETIMES WE TAKE THESE LESSONS AS CHALLENGES, HOW DO YOUDEAL WITH SUCH?

I don’t know, hey. Hahaha… it is different every time, sometimes I feel like running away, other times I choose to face them, head-on and sometimes I just cry and hope it will be okay. I talk to people, sometimes.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR WORST EXPERIENCE IN THE INDUSTRY, YET?

Not getting paid. And not getting paid by the people that you know that can afford to pay you.

#art #exhibition