Seleke ’ s lens turns daily grinds into magical images
Dark Room Artist’s pictures cause sensation
Tshepiso Seleke, or Dark Room Artist as he goes by on social media, prides himself in his street documentary photography, an art form that greatly defines his moody and gritty images.
Prior to becoming an internet sensation that has even turned the heads of the likes of Zakes Bantwini, Seleke grew up on the streets of Orlando East, Soweto, where he took up sketching as a hobby, inspired by his artistic uncle.
Seleke grew keener on capturing the world visually, which then morphed into his passion for abstract-conceptual and street photography.
My mom did catering for production companies, so I would end up getting involved. I used to love cameras growing up. So it was always calling me, ” says Seleke.
He started as a filmmaker, which became the avenue to which he could “give a voice to the voiceless ” through photography.
This especially rings true to his series of artworks titled A House Built on Maize, which follows a group of women who sell maize on the side of the road.
One of these images with a woman swathed in a blanket went viral on multiple social media platforms. “I never even thought it would go viral. I woke up that morning and people were tagging me and telling me that someone stole my picture, because a lot of people were claiming it – even in Botswana – it was flying all over, says Seleke.
You think nobody is watching but everybody is just tuned in. Sometimes I feel like people are waiting on you to post something so they can smash and grab it like it ’ s theirs,” he says on the current state of street photography.
With many people ’ s mothers carrying the yoke of difficult jobs, Seleke found that the image was incredibly moving in how it was relatable, which propelled its virality on social media platforms.
With that said, this also puts the people who Seleke often documents in the spotlight, allowing them chances to have their lives changed.
But in a vapid social media world driven by an insatiable need to be followed, works by artists like Seleke become the canvas to which any brand can profit from.
“Some people were using it as a PR ploy because the picture was going viral.
“It was more about them getting the publicity, which didn ’ t make sense because it felt more like an intrusion,” says Seleke, who would often get communiqués to get hold of his subjects.
A similar sense of exploitation lingers over the world of photography. Take the famous image, Migrant Mother, by Dorothea Lange taken during the Great Depression or The Struggling Girl by Pulitzer Prize-winning South African photojournalist Kevin Carter, which depicted a little girl crouched on the dirt with a vulture behind her.
Such images and those alike have been critiqued for their voyeuristic nature.
Profiting from their subjects ’ pain and often with no consent, these images live etched in our minds and at the bane of those immortalised in their existence.
Another highlight in the artist ’ s career has been his series of images titled Ugeza Ngobisi , which references the notion associated with beautifying oneself through bathing in milk.
The striking images feature models in glum greyscale shots as milk showers their imperturbable faces.
It speaks of freedom and finding yourself,” Seleke says.
That splash is about purity of milk, so your inner beauty revives you and gives you strength. Everyone is beautiful in their own way.”
Seleke is currently working on a number of collaborations that are set to be a shocker, while he continues to dedicate himself to his street photography and an exhibition with the Cape Town Art Fair for February 2021.