Michaelis student Sipho Mpongo Awarded Magnum Fellowship

The Magnum Foundation has selected twenty-two year old South African photographer Sipho Mpongo as one their 2015 Human Rights Fellows. The Photography and Human Rights programme provides photographers from the Global South with scholarships and intensive training in the ethical use of photography in the advancement of human rights at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in New York City. Students will explore strategies for creating effective visual stories with the aim of advancing Human Rights in their home countries.

Mpongo was born in the Eastern Cape in a rural village called Nqamakwe in 1993 and was raised in Langa, Cape Town. He has been a part of the local photographic mentorship, Illiso Labantu, which provided a platform for Mpongo to launch into a photographic career. Sipho has recently completed a full time course in study at the Cape Town School of Photography whilst contributing to various photographic group shows and projects in Cape Town and internationally.

Most recently, Mpongo completed a four-month tour around South Africa documenting the “Born Free Generation,” 20 years after the conclusion of apartheid. He is also a member of the photography collective, Iliso Labantu.

You can view more of Mpongo’s work on his website: www.siphompongo.com