The young South African photographers you need to follow on Instagram

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.