Celebrity photographer on Cloud 9 for award nomination
Enock Mbuyi shares his excitement with us after his first prestigious award nomination.
Enock Mbuyi still pinches himself that he has been nominated by the South African Social Media Awards under the Social Media Photographer of the Year category. These awards were created to celebrate content creators like him.
Mbuyi who resides in Fourways told us he has been a photographer for eight years now. This is his first nomination since he started photography. That is the same reason he battled to hide his joy when he spoke to us.
“It is overwhelming because I have been in the industry for the longest time. I am always focused on work, so it feels amazing to be recognised for hard work.”
He told us he was busy shooting at his studio in Sunninghill when his phone could not stop buzzing with congratulatory messages from friends and followers after he got nominated. It was the least of his expectations.
“I found out about it on social media because SASMA tagged me on their Instagram page. No one told me anything. I was extremely excited. I had to put my phone down a bit in disbelief, ‘am I dreaming or something?’ I was so happy honestly,” he said.
Mbuyi is a self-taught photographer. He said he did not try too hard to discover his talent, “I just took the camera and started shooting photos. I loved the feeling I got when I held the camera. But years later, I went to study photography because without qualifications is hard to venture into the industry. I was good with it but had to take that route too so that it reflects my work professionally. I also wanted to accumulate more knowledge.”
His camera skills have also earned him an opportunity to work with the rich in famous of the entertainment industry, “I worked with media personalities, like Post Malone, and Beyonce when she came to South Africa, I do magazine shoots, media attend events etc… So, it is good that my hard work finally paid off.”
Mbuyi competes for the category with social media sensations like Sfundo Majozi, Thick Leeyonce, Jabu Nkosi and Young Stilo. However, he is confident that he will bring it home in Fourways.
“I won and I am going to collect it because I believe nobody works harder than me and nobody does it better than me. It has been a long time.”
To vote for him, he said, “SMS 72 to 44850 which costs only R1.50.”
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