Beating poverty through his lens
A passion for capturing beautiful moments in people's lives is helping young cameraman Sello Malatjie from Dan village near Tzaneen to fight his way out of abject poverty.
LIMPOPO – The 25-year-old was raised by an unemployed single mother and started producing event videos and taking photos for weddings, graduations, stokvels and matric dance functions while still a Gr 10 learner at Charles Mathonsi Secondary School.
“I started taking photos in order to raise money to pay for my tertiary education. Soon I was making enough money to help my mother to buy food and clothes for my two younger siblings.
“That’s how I fell in love with the camera and also discovered that there is money in photography,” he said.
Malatjie studied N1, N2 and N3 courses in electrical engineering at Sir Val Duncan, Maake and Letaba TVET colleges after passing Gr 12, but that didn’t stop him from using his camera on weekends to make extra money.
“My business grew through word of mouth. The money I made helped me to buy books, study guides and to pay my college fees. I also continued to meet the educational needs of my siblings,” he said.
When the driven and dedicated young man couldn’t find a job after completing his electrical engineering studies in 2016, he became a full-time video producer and photographer.
“I learnt that in life, you must always have a plan B. When I failed to get a job, I didn’t give up. I put all my energy and effort into growing my business. I expanded my business and started producing videos for funeral events and designed flyers and business cards,” he said.
Malatjie currently runs his video production company called Tears Photography, it specialises in lifestyle and sports photography as well as event video production for marriages, funerals and government events.
The highlights of his career as a sports photographer includes being commissioned by Gallo Images to supply them with photos of local soccer matches, and being one of the cameramen who took photos during a Sundowns-Polokwane league match at Loftus Versfeld last year.
“It was the happiest moment in my life to brush shoulders with some of the best sports photographers in the country, including my mentor, role model and dear friend Lefty Shivambu,” he said.
Malatjie owns two cars, has built a modest six roomed house for his family and is continuously exploring new business opportunities in the field of photography and event video production.
“I believe in the saying that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I was born into a poor family, but I am fighting my way out of poverty through determination, hard work and focus,” he said.
