The African Institute Multimedia (AIM) held a preview screening of an upcoming short documentary film called “Tzaneen Paparazzi” at Mercurius Motors on Friday. The documentary is about the day-to-day lives of street photographers and the challenges they encounter. “I started street photography after I was retrenched from a wifi company because of Covid-19,” said Tumelo Seleka, one of the characters featured in the documentary. “My younger brother advised me to buy a camera with the money I had saved. My first day on the street was a challenge since I had to adjust to the work environment,” Seleka told the Herald.

“Some of the challenges we encounter as street photographers are being accused of being thieves, or we get threatened that we will be taken to police since what we do is illegal.” At the screening on Friday night, Molatelo MainetjeBossman of AIM said she is proud of the work that they did and how the documentary turned out. “In terms of the audience, our target market is global. We have people from all over the world watching the work that we do,” she said. The event was also attended by the Greater Tzaneen Economic Development Agency (GTEDA) who gave the two characters featured, Seleka and Fortune Phakula, an opportunity to make a name for themselves.

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Velly Mulaudzi of GTEDA applauded the work done by the youngsters. “This is to show that our young people are really talented. I have seen them in the streets of Tzaneen taking pictures and I got to see the pictures they take and they are really good. “As the GTEDA, we would like to offer them an opportunity to help them in their careers. We would like to work with them and see that they succeed in everything they do,” Malaudzi said. The stars were asked about the technique they use to convince their customers to allow them to take pictures and what advice they can offer young people like themselves. “I make sure that the customer is comfortable and feels safe to talk to me.

“Usually they are unaware that they are being photographed. But I am always humble and respectful when I show them their pictures,” Phakula said. “Young people like me should not wait for the government to create jobs, we must take charge of our lives, let us be the future of this country and create jobs for ourselves rather than always putting the blame on government,” said Phakula. Phakula is also a hip-hop artist and one of his songs is featured in the documentary. Seleka is now a taxi owner and driver, he gave the camera to his younger brother who initially advised him to buy the camera in the first place. Karabo Rabjanyane of AIM said that the reason they did this documentary was to show the world that even people from the poor villages are talented, they just do not always have the means to showcase their talent, he concluded.