Mpumelelo Buthelezi

MPUMELELO BUTHELEZI

(b. 1994 Johannesburg, South Africa)

Mpumelelo Buthelezi is a South African photographer based in Johannesburg. Buthelezi’s work finds itself at the intersection between documentation, storytelling and activism. He completed his Photojournalism and Documentary Photography certification at the Market Photo Workshop (Johannesburg) in 2017. In his practice, Buthelezi’s work explores the themes of social activism and religion as well as the ways that people sustain themselves, as in the case of waste pickers.

Buthelezi was the 11th recipient of the Cassirer Welz Award (2021), which included an artist residency and a solo exhibition at Bag Factory in Johannesburg. He received the 2nd Heather B. Mattera photography scholarship to study in New York (2022). In 2021, Buthelezi was awarded the best photographer of the year at the North-West Media Awards. He was part of the TEXT ME curatorial programme of the Media Arts Festival in Leeuwarden, Netherlands (2022). Buthelezi has been on an artist residency with Sir Prof Zanele Muholi and Muholi Productions in KwaZulu-Natal, and also participated in Wendy Network’s virtual residency, Arts Unchained (2021). 

His work has been exhibited at the Kampala Photo Biennale in Uganda (2021, 2022); Transitions Rotterdam Foto Festival in the Netherlands (2019); Foto Schiedam Festival in the Netherlands (2019). His first solo exhibition took place at Wetilt Gallery in Italy (2019), followed by a solo at CULTVR LAB in Wales (2022). Buthelezi went on to exhibit his photographs at the Social Art Award in Germany 2019, and was the 2nd prize winner for Nikon Yellow competition in 2018.