INTRODUCING THEBE MAGUGU

The pictures below are all taken from Thebe Magugu's facebook page. Thebe also has a blog where he shares his opinions on style through words and images, but the real treasure trove is his facebook page. He has uploaded literally thousands of pics that are made up of fashion shoots that he and two friends put together for fun. He is based in Kimberley, has recently turned 18, and most of the images were taken over the last couple of years. I first noticed his pics last year when i read a post on the Marie Claire blog about his blog, and i've been a follower ever since. I really really love the shoots they put together and i think they show such a love for fashion and image-making, plus a keen understanding of references, especially the pop-cultural. I think it's a real pity that most of these images stay on facebook and do not make it onto his blog. There are shitloads of personal style blogs out there that aren't half as experimental and sharp as the pics he posts. I am a rather hectic ageist, and i understand all too well how easy it is to be condescending and cynical about work done by people that are much younger, especially if they do that work in their teenage years, and i am well aware that fashion eats its young as a midnight snack. But all of this makes me even more excited about the work Thebe and his friends put together. The obvious love for what they do makes me that much less cynical. So i did a brief interview with Thebe so we can get a sneak peek into his headspace and a bit of behind the scenes info. Check it below after the pics.

Where are you from?
I am from Kimberley, a small backwater town in the Northern Cape. Its hell, not only because of the sun but the oppressive nature of it all.


Where do you guys take your pictures? Who takes them? Who edits them?
Well, I have a creative powerhouse, Trevor Stuurman and Ree SillyFresh Marekwa. We take photos at very unconventional places e.g. Trainstations, burnt-down velds and last week we took to the back of a Museum, which looked like a grave yard. It was stunning. Trevor is the photographer, he is a first year student at AFDA in Cape Town. Brilliant eye with so much attention to detail. He would climb trees or dig holes to get that perfect shot. Trevor and I do the editing, I use Coral Pro-X while he uses the grand daddy of photo editing software [Adobe]. I prefer mine though, we are both high fashion but I'm more haunted in my photography to his 'exciting' photographs.


And the styling?
I do the styling. I'm in love with unnecessary 'drama' e.g I threw Fifi into a vintage, burnt-biscuit fur coat with a massive patent belt and slapped lipstick on her with her weave in a pony like Cleopatra. This was all done when the weather was 39 degrees on a busy highway. Citizens of Kimberley almost passed away. I lay in the middle of the mall in a navy blue suit designed by Fort Joko with shoulders as high as my head. Just for the drama and absurdity.


Inspiration?
 I don't believe inspiration should be from a certain era in time e.g The Victorians or The Babylonians. I get my inspiration from abstract ideas, like heartbreak [which contributes to the emotional weight of my photography], philosophy and religion [allusions to these ideas in my photography]. Funerals, homosexuality, mythology[Norse and Greek], taboo and a woman's figure. People who inspire me are Florence Welch from Florence and The Machine and how she's always carrying on about curses that fall on young lovers and how she lives in the wrong world. Kanye West, Coldplay and the ideas of Friedrich Nietzche and Camus. Kant as well. As well as loneliness.
 


A lot of your pics feature you and your friends Ree Sillyfresh and Trevor. What roles do you each define for yourselves in putting together the shoots?
We do it all. Personally, I am stylist, photographer, model and editor - so is Trevor. Ree does it all except photography. she acts like she cant use one so she can get more facetime - a malevolent diva that one!