A Women’s Month workshop in Soweto gives young people the chance to explore belonging, identity and defining what home means.
Soweto, Johannesburg (20 August 2025) – This Women’s Month, a unique photography workshop in Soweto is giving young people the chance to explore what “home” truly means. And it’s all guided by the lens and leadership of women photographers.
Run by Of Soul and Joy, the project brings together Tshepiso Mazibuko, Tshepiso Mabula, Naledi Mkupa, and Zanele Dhlamini, a team of women who understand the power of both mentorship and representation. Inviting young creatives to think deeply about where they come from, how they see themselves, and what belonging feels like.
At the heart of the workshop is the theme “This is Home.” It is more than a technical exercise in photography, but a chance for young women and men to interpret identity, memory, and space through their own eyes. Some may find “home” in the walls they live in, others in the people who love them, and still others in dreams that stretch far beyond Soweto’s streets.
“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 women leading the sessions are not only teaching skills. They are showing what it means to lead with purpose. Participants learn to work with light, colour, and texture, but also how to tell a story, present their work, and put words to their vision through artist statements. Their creations will be preserved in both a printed zine and a digital archive, ensuring that their voices are carried forward.
The programme will culminate in a public exhibition, also titled “This is Home,” opening on 13 September 2025 at the Umhlabathi Collective in Newtown, Johannesburg. The showcase is a celebration of young voices, women’s leadership, and the idea that home can be redefined, reclaimed, and reimagined.
In the spirit of Women’s Month, this initiative stands as a reminder that when women lead, they create spaces where others can see themselves differently and discover that their stories truly matter.
You can find out more here.
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