Photographer Marguerite Oelofse’s lifelong fascination with beautiful images led her to Joburg’s National School of the Arts, where she learnt to master the form. After completing a BA in visual communication, she spent three years working between Cape Town and Berlin, where her images started to develop their signature “painterly” style. Her love for art and storytelling allows her to express her artistic vision.
Her painting-like, yet dramatically photographic, aesthetic represents a rich, iconoclastic take on traditional photography that celebrates images for their sheer beauty and drama.
Oelofse recently completed a postgraduate diploma in brand-building, where she invested time and effort in developing skills to help her strategise about how to use visual trends in photography to support the branding of various products, services and businesses.
Tomorrow's youth captured by one of SA’s photography greats
Marguerite Oelofse shares her insights on representing the spirit of the next generation through her mesmerising images
Image: Marguerite Oelofse
Photographer Marguerite Oelofse’s lifelong fascination with beautiful images led her to Joburg’s National School of the Arts, where she learnt to master the form. After completing a BA in visual communication, she spent three years working between Cape Town and Berlin, where her images started to develop their signature “painterly” style. Her love for art and storytelling allows her to express her artistic vision.
Her painting-like, yet dramatically photographic, aesthetic represents a rich, iconoclastic take on traditional photography that celebrates images for their sheer beauty and drama.
Oelofse recently completed a postgraduate diploma in brand-building, where she invested time and effort in developing skills to help her strategise about how to use visual trends in photography to support the branding of various products, services and businesses.
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In 2022, she was honoured with two prestigious accolades: the Pink Lady Food Photography Award for Food Photographer of the Year (African Territory) and the Claire Aho Award for Women Photographers. Thousands of entries from more than 60 countries were submitted for this competition. Her winning works were exhibited at the Royal Photographic Society in Bristol, in the UK.
One of her passions is taking unusual, striking pictures of children.
“I love photographing children because it teaches me to be present in the moment and have patience,” she says.
“Capturing their raw emotions and authentic expressions enables me to create meaningful, compelling stories through my lens.
Image: Marguerite Oelofse
Children’s emotions shine through in every shot, reminding me of the beauty of sincerity and the importance of embracing genuine feelings.
Each photograph becomes a narrative, reflecting their unfiltered joy, curiosity and wonder. I’m deeply passionate about my work and honoured to be among the storytellers of my generation of South Africans.” Nelson Mandela’s wise words resonate with this talented photographer as she captures the next generation’s youthful go-getters, creatives, world-changers and dream-makers: “Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.”
This article originally appeared in Sunday Times Lifestyle
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