{"id":456900,"date":"2026-03-04T10:35:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/456900\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T10:35:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:35:21","slug":"koto-bolofos-decades-of-fashion-photography-celebrated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/456900\/","title":{"rendered":"Koto Bolofo\u2019s decades of fashion photography celebrated"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fashion photography of renowned UK-based fashion lensman Koto Bolofo, originally from SA, is being celebrated on homegrown soil with an exhibition that launched last Thursday. <\/p>\n

His body of work spanning more than three decades takes centre stage at the Fashion_The Image exhibition running until the end of May at the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography (Inside Out Centre for the Arts) in Johannesburg\u2019s Forest Town.<\/p>\n

The photography of SMag\u2019s regular collaborators Ray Manzana, Themba Mokase, Steve Tanchel, Aart Verrips, Tatenda Chidora and Lethabo Machele also receives the spotlight. SMag editor Emmanuel Tjiya makes the cut as one of the subjects featured on the gallery walls.<\/p>\n

Koto Bolofo. (Thapelo Morebudi) <\/p>\n

\u201cSouth African fashion has such a great sense of signature and an identity. It\u2019s easy to say it\u2019s creative, but what I know about South Africa is that the country is a good melting pot of cultures and the intermix of cultures continues to share and borrow from one another,\u201d Bolofo tells Sowetan. <\/p>\n

Dubbed the \u201cgodfather of African fashion photography\u201d, Bolofo\u2019s lens has shaped and influenced the global industry, and his byline has appeared in international style bibles Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ and Numero. He has captured impactful images for Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Nike, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Loewe, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Gap, Herm\u00e8s and Levi\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201c[SA] is a unique country that trades in the interchange of mixing fabrics, textures and colours to create unimaginable and creative things,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

The work of Koto Bolofo. (Koto Bolofo) <\/p>\n

On opening night, the local fashion industry came out in numbers to celebrate Bolofo and other local photographers \u2013 plus fashion bigwigs including stylists, designers, creative directors and other key production superstars. <\/p>\n

Other influential style figures spotted included Ballen, David Tlale, Azania Mosaka, Nao Serati, Ponahalo Mojapelo, Aspasia Karras, Sharon Armstrong, Connie More, Lesley Mofokeng, Mzukisi Mbane, Thobeka Mbane, Thula Sindi, Lerato Moloi, Craig Jacobs and more. <\/p>\n

Hanging on the gallery walls under bright lighting, the enlarged photographs shine in colourful and creative interpretations. These include high-fashion editorial spreads, campaign imagery, fashion films and experimental collaborations curated and captured by local creatives. <\/p>\n

\"EmmanuelSMag editor Emmanuel Tjiya captured by Ray Manzana. (Ray Manzana) <\/p>\n

The photography exhibition was curated by SMag fashion director Armstrong and Wanted editor Karras, in collaboration with Ercia de Greef and Ayabukwa Magocoba from the African Fashion Research Institute. <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe fashion made in SA is on the rise and the narrative has changed; it\u2019s no longer just about showcasing fashion, but it\u2019s about understanding the entire value chain,\u201d says Tlale.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the continent of Africa, we are trailblazing and the world is looking into what is happening here. We keep saying it\u2019s \u2018African fashion\u2019 \u2013 no, it\u2019s \u2018fashion made in Africa\u2019 because we are crafters and have the skill and the world is not ready for what will come forth from Africa. The consumers, the labourers and the people who have the style are in Africa.”<\/p>\n

Model Connie More captured by photographer Tatenda Chidora. (TATENDA CHIDORA) <\/p>\n

Mosaka said that African designers\u2019 rich storytelling is what sets them apart from their global counterparts. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think South African and African designers are doing something aesthetically different from other places and that people are over luxury brands and the Western aesthetic and Africans are starting to fall in love with our own aesthetic and how our culture and heritage are being interpreted,\u201d Mosaka says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe storytelling is rich \u2013 tonight I met a traditional healer whose bones are on the Thebe Magugu outfit that I have. She tells me of the photo of her divination bones during a consultation that later Thebe took and made into a print. African designers are incredibly innovative and transformative.”<\/p>\n

Gavin Rajah design photographed by Michael Oliver Love, December 2021. (Michael Oliver Love) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fashion photography of renowned UK-based fashion lensman Koto Bolofo, originally from SA, is being celebrated on homegrown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,164714,164719,164711,164717,164718,164713,164716,164710,164715,164712,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-456900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-exhibition-launched","tag-fashion-bigwigs","tag-fashion-the-image","tag-global-industry","tag-impactful-images","tag-inside-out-centre-for-the-arts","tag-intermix-of-cultures","tag-koto-bolofo","tag-regular-collaborators","tag-roger-ballen-centre-for-photography","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}