25-year-old artist from Zandspruit plans to grow his photography business

My name is Sphamandla Ishmael Masuku also known as Ishimza the Kasi Sheriff, from Zandspruit informal settlement, North of Johannesburg.

I am a self-employed 25-year-old photographer, artist, and producer. Growing up, I never thought that I’d be a photographer but since I was unemployed, I decided that it might be another way to put food on the table.

Life was never easy for me after matriculating because I was unable to further my studies due to financial problems. I moved out of my mother’s house after completing high school and went to rent a room with my friend Darlington Magatsela, who I met through social media.

We became friends during our last year of high school. After we wrote our final examinations, we decided that he must move from Witbank in Mpumalanga and come to Joburg so that we can pursue music together.

It was very difficult because we were not getting booked for any paying gigs. We weren’t able to pay our bills and my friend decided to return home to further his studies.

I started photography in 2019 but growing up I wanted to be a musician and television presenter. I bought a camera to promote my music with high-quality photos and videos of studio sessions. Then, a few models in the neighbourhood approached me and asked me to take their photos so that they can update their social media profiles. After that, I decided to turn it into a business and I got calls from famous soccer players asking me to come and capture them and their brands.

I’ve worked with former Bafana Bafana captain, Dean Furman and Mamelodi Sundowns defender, Aubrey Modiba, back when he was still playing for Supersport United. The year I started the business, intruders broke into my studio and took all my equipment, including the camera. It was not easy to recover all the stolen items and even the camera I’m using now doesn’t take good photos compared to the one I had before.

I am enjoying what I’m doing and I’m more focused on sports photography because I used to watch and attend soccer matches with my father. My biggest inspiration is my mother because I‘ve seen her struggle. However, she never threw in the towel.

One of the challenges I’ve encountered is charging local clients the price you would charge a well-known person. It is quite challenging because the clients will often tell you that you can’t charge them that kind of amount with a small camera.

I have a podcast called Hustlers Online and a sports show, Impilo Ne Diski (life and football) where we interview soccer players, coaches and supporters. I would like to see both my shows grow in the next five years to come and showcase local talent.

I would also love to do live streaming of local tournaments on platforms such as YouTube so that the whole world can see the talent of the residents of Zandspruit. My biggest dream is to see my business being one of the leading media companies in the North of Johannesburg.

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