Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo is an emerging photographer whose photographic practice focuses on themes of collective trauma and generational memory in South Africa. Hlatshwayo grew up above his parents' tavern, where he experienced a series of traumatic events during his childhood. This tavern became his makeshift studio where he set up his practice to explore first-hand and generational experiences of trauma.
Abstract and partly participatory, Hlatshwayo's photographic practice relies on people's physical engagement with the photograph. After taking a photograph, Hlatshwayo prints it and then leaves it in private or public spaces for people to leave their mark.