Young Voices, Powerful Perspectives: Women-led Photography Workshop Empowers Township and Hostel Youth

In recognition of Women’s Month, Of Soul and Joy (OSJ) is hosting a photography workshop powered by an all-female team of acclaimed photographers: Tshepiso Mazibuko, Tshepiso Mabula, Naledi Mkupa, and Zanele Dhlamini. The programme, designed for young women and boys aged 13–30 from Soweto townships and the Merafe Hostel, offers more than technical training. It is a journey of self-expression, introspection, and storytelling under the unifying theme “This is Home.”

Over the course of the workshop, 38 participants will take part in hands-on sessions that combine photographic skills with conceptual thinking. They will be challenged to reflect on their environments and inner worlds, using texture, light, colour, and pattern to build a personal photo series answering the question: “What does home mean to me?” For some, home may be a physical space. For others, it may be an idea, a feeling, or even a person.

“This workshop is special because it gives participants permission to reflect on their own identities and capture and interpret their emotions in physical images,” says facilitator Tshepiso Mabula ka Ndongeni. “We’re teaching these students photography while also building their confidence, encouraging independence, and showing them that their stories matter.”

The programme blends practical training with broader creative growth. Participants will learn visual storytelling, presentation and writing basics, and produce artist statements to accompany their work. Each story will be preserved in both a printed zine and a digital archive, extending the impact beyond the classroom.

The initiative culminates in a curated exhibition, “This is Home,” opening on 13 September 2025 at the Umhlabathi Collective in Newtown, Johannesburg. This public showcase invites the wider community to experience the intimate and powerful narratives shaped by the young photographers.

“Too often, young people, especially young women, are overlooked or unheard,” says Jabulani Dlamini, OSJ Project Manager. “This workshop creates a vital space for them to be seen and to speak. Photography becomes a declaration: I am here, and this is who I am.”

With this initiative, OSJ is focused on three core objectives:

• Empower young women through creative expression

• Build technical and narrative photography skills

• Encourage self-confidence and independent thinking

• Provide sustained mentorship from women role models

• Create a safe platform for youth to share their lived experiences

• Inspire participants to think beyond convention

At its heart, “This is Home” is more than a workshop theme. It is an invitation for youth to reimagine belonging, identity, and future possibilities, guided by women who once stood in their shoes and now lead with purpose.