To be a multi-disciplinarian is to be insatiably curious – it means, at its root, that one’s creative process is always up for re-assertion and is never finalised or concluded. I know of Mikhailia Petersen’s work through her viewpoint of styling and creative direction in fashion; with a signature ability to fuse contemporary sensibilities, while resurrecting a sense of nostalgia – the latter, being a facet of Mikhailia’s photographic work, in both mood and meaning. Whether it’s her work for publications such as The Face, Vogue Italia or NATAAL, or showcases such as The Manor curated by Trevor Stuurman, or participating with galleries such as The Reservoir and with Church at FNB Joburg Art Fair – Mikhailia’s ability to create visual stories is one far-reaching and profound. As Mikhailia tells me in our conversation, shooting was always her primary goal and it took engaging with multiple parts of the image-making process in order to get there.

As Mikhailia explains, “I’ve always wanted to shoot. I didn’t have the money for gear initially, so one way that I could be part of the image-making process was to style. That was a little bit more accessible – I had contacts in the fashion industry, and so that was my start in the space. It naturally progressed to creative directing and producing, and then I had the opportunity to borrow my friend’s camera. I started practising photography, officially.” Mikhailia’s engagement with photography arose out of a deep search in making meaning of a landscape in which the narratives of those around her – whether communities or individuals – shone more clearly as the materia for the kind of narrative-building that she was pulled towards. As Mikhailia notes – fashion was the first point of entry in this process, but it has become so much more; “fashion is an extremely important tool. Though I found that it was limiting, as a stylist, to say exactly what I wanted to say or share the stories that I wanted to – and I got to the point where I had set up the whole scene for an image, I should just shoot it, too? I realised I can do it myself, and for the work to be made by a person of colour is really important, too.” With a particular emphasis on shooting stories of POC and LGBTQIA+ people, Mikhailia’s instinct for storytelling is grounded from behind the camera lens. Though, this does not mean a conclusion of her artistic focus – it means, as she tells me, that next stop is to become a director and work with moving images and film. Mikhailia embodies that precious and insatiable curiosity.

LEVIS 501 FOR VOGUE ITALIA

I ask Mikhailia whether there is a definition to what she is currently making, and how the intersection of her multiple disciplines might unfold during the creative process? To which she says, “my focus is fine-art photography right now, while working towards becoming a director. With all these intersecting roles, I’m constantly jumping between them in whichever process I’m engaged in. I still see myself as a practising artist, just with more expanded skill-sets to step into, depending on the body of work or brief at hand. I think when I’m building a story, it’s become instinctive for me to know which areas of the process need my attention or focus – from photographing, to styling, creative directing and so on.”

Though Mikhailia remains engaged in the realm of fashion, it is her fine-art photography that is bringing her the deepest sense of nourishment. I am struck by her portrayal of the Hanover Minstrels, the procession leaders of Tweede Nuwe Jaar and the annual Cape Minstrel Carnival. Capturing that inarticulable joy, energy and co-creation of this historical and cultural celebration, Mikhailia’s series statement explains thatTweede Nuwe Jaar is  “rooted in the city’s history of colonisation and struggle, it marks the one day off a year the city’s slaves were traditionally allowed, which they used to come together through music, costumes and dance. After emancipation in 1838, local communities formed bands, choirs and troupes and by the early 1900s new year processions became commonplace. Tweede Nuwe Jaar went on to survive Apartheid and has embedded itself into South African popular culture, becoming a celebration of togetherness.”

Mikhailia shares that “I’m deeply inspired by the Hanover Minstrels. They’re the first minstrels from District Six, and they’ve led the whole procession throughout all these years. I really admire everything that they stand for in terms of community upliftment and their focus on encouraging kids to find their expression,” and that this project is one that will continue to form part of a long and open-ended body of work, “I actually didn’t know much about my own culture. Working with the Hanover Minstrels has been this incredibly enlightening way to engage with my culture – to see other coloured people engage in this precious and unique creative outlet. I’m hoping to shoot them for eight more years, so I can do a ten-year anniversary story series. Being able to build long-form, documentarian-style work with communities is something very special and dear to me.”

As a creative, Mikhailia’s notes that the act of collaboration is as simple as it is powerful, saying that “I believe in integrity as the foundation for any collaboration. With integrity, an intuitive process always seems to unfold between collaborators – and this has always led to the most beautiful work.” and that this moment, of Mikhailia’s creative expression, is perhaps her most attuned, “I have never felt so comfortable and so confused, in my entire life! I am so comfortable with myself at the moment and what I’m trying to say, and hopefully what I am going to leave behind one day as a legacy, and what my impact is creatively. It’s this really interesting tension of knowing that what I’m doing is precisely what I need to be doing, but not having the full knowledge of where it’s going. I think that’s the confusing part, but I’m trusting the process.”

Mikhailia, photographed by Alice Mann

As for the future? Mikhailia’s sights are set on film-making – an organic consequence of mastery in the art of still imagery. Now, Mikhailiia is pursuing the art of movement; “My vision is to make more community work. I’m also going to make my own films – which is a really exciting, new frontier for me.” With a final anecdote for those called to a practice rooted in a multitude of disciplines and articulations, Mikhailia’s encouragement is that “when you feel like you want to quit – that’s when you have to keep going. To be able to tap into creativity is so special, but your story matters.”

DISTRICT SIX

Written by: Holly Beaton

Photographer Steve Marais is taking down his website soon. Ironically, for me, it’s one of the most interesting collections of personally conveying one’s work that I’ve seen in a long time. Yet, in the spirit of constantly revitalising his creative expression – bound by a newly formed creative philosophy. So, I’m prefacing our conversation with a call to action: immerse yourself in stevemarais.com – before it’s too late. 

The Berlin-based South African photographer is abides by storytelling as his root – and Steve’s act of self-publishing, through a collection digital zines, is one of the most thoughtful acts of resistance I have seen from a photographer – who is, by the very nature of their role, is ordered to release their craft into the hands of others. When so much of our autonomy as creatives is up for sale, Steve cites zine-making as a way to preserve the essence of his narrative, at the centre of his bodies of work.

Steve explains that “I was supposed to do a bunch of meetings in Germany – ‘go-sees’ – and I just thought, ‘ugh…can’t I just make a bunch of prints?’. I started laying out elements and things I had saved, and as I was doing it – it became the idea of doing these zines and it felt such a nice way to share what I wanted, on the internet. It is definitely in resistance to splashing content out so fleetingly.” As a fashion and commercial photographer, Steve is reshifting his focus toward personal stories. Whether it be ‘Body Love’ – a celebration of the body positivity movement – or ‘The three of us’ – a tale of masculine friendship, Steve shares that “I’m not selling anything in my personal work. There’s no product to market, so it’s difficult to get picked up – this is the nature of commerce now, and the capitalistic social media culture that has been created over the last 15 years. I don’t try to step back in time – we are always moving forward – but these zines are a way to do something a little bit more real and tangible. I am putting my efforts into self-publishing. Interesting thoughts are developing – watch this space.”

Steve grew up in South Africa, but has lived in Europe for many years now. In asking about his creative origin – Steve explains that, “Photography kind of chose me. I’m from a very normal family – my dad was in mining, my mom was mostly a housewife. We went on a family holiday to the west coast when I was in high school, and a woman asked me to photograph her and her little boy with her camera. We played around a bit on the rocks and she was a newspaper editor, and she told my parents that I needed to be a photographer. So that’s what I became! My parents were cool with the idea.” Steve went onto study photography, an experience he credits as a foundation for his craft – though, most of his mastery has been born from relentless working, over many years. Steve notes that “I don’t think I was very good at it, in the beginning. I had no art training, I had not undergone any creative development yet – so creatively, I had to play catch up. I had the perseverance to see it through and now, I’ve honed it over a long time.”

I choose to transform every ‘you’ and every life I touch by creating fresh, motivating and uplifting visuals.
I choose to illuminate the beauty of life by exposing human experiences that show their diversity and complexity.
I choose to challenge the status quo by reflecting the realities that we as humans face, not just the ones that are imposed on us.
I choose to embrace all kinds of people and encourage them to share their perspectives and insights so that together we can create new ones.
I choose to portray the everyday by making variety and choice a conscious part of my visual journey.
I choose to simplify the complexity of the world by applying my artistic vision to  authentic storytelling.

I ask Steve, how did the essential role of ‘choice’ come to define his artistic practice? To which he says, “I built up that manifesto over time – it’s been a work in progress and those statements are very much part of my process. Things have shifted. This new creative philosophy that I’ve adopted was developed during the pandemic years. That time stopped us all in our tracks and for me, it cleared out some space internally. I started doing creative projects photographing real people. I started focusing on relationships, connectivity and the need for human connection – and out of that, came my emphasis on choice.” Self-determination is one of the most important keys to unlocking any kind of future – and Steve’s creative charter hinges on this very idea. It also forms part of a deeper ethical, perhaps even existential, metamorphosis that Steve has undergone; having previously forged his creative sword in the depths of highly stylised, commercial work. As Steve explains, “I choose to include people – I choose to include people’s different perspectives – I choose to invite people to share their stories with me. My output has totally shifted from this approach and where I’m standing now, I’m questioning whether I even want to move forward with commercial work? I think eventually I will step away from commercial entirely. Right now, I’m working on how to develop a sustainable business around the choice and the freedom of telling stories around people.”

Karl und Fridli photographed by STEVE MARAIS

In her seminal work ‘No Logo’, author and thinker Naomi Klein pre-empted a deep, cultural need for resistance against corporatism and its aim to consume, quite literally, the expression of all creative and cultural production in our society. In talking to Steve, I think of Naomi’s quote in the book – “what haunts me is not exactly the absence of literal space so much as a deep craving for metaphorical space: release, escape, some kind of open-ended freedom.” It is precisely at this juncture, of the need for metaphorical space in which to create, that Steve has found himself and it is where his most exciting frontier as an artist is being born from. Steve explains that, “the brave brands are the ones who allow stories to develop and to be told. The selling of mass-products and my part in that, has become something of a moral issue to me. We step onto set as service providers – and you have to provide that service, most often to create disposable imagery for the sake of selling products to consumers. The shareholders get richer, but the work itself has no shelf-life. There is no importance to it after a week. That’s why I need to focus on stories and people.” and that “I think that’s where AI will come in, to create that kind of disposable content. I think it should, in some ways, cause many people to be out of a job – me included. Authenticity will reign supreme and it will become more and more exclusive, and desired.”

Steve’s work is a love-letter to light, tenderness and conveying people precisely as they are. It’s surprising, then, that composition is not Steve’s primary focus – thorough, colour is – “it’s quite organic.” he says, “I do like ‘pops of colour’ and light. My biggest strength is people – that’s my talent, not photography, but people. Second to that is, my understanding of colour. I don’t shoot anything but digital. The adaptability of a really good digital file is great – I put a lot of work into conceptualising a photographic series, especially colour grading. I don’t do photoshop unless it’s very, very necessary.”

FINAL REFRESH STUART DODDS & FELIPE YUMMY photographed by STEVE MARAIS

Steve’s experience living in Europe, and finally settling in Berlin, points to an increasing movement of South African creatives heading around the world. Might as well make use of globalisation – right? Steve notes that “I needed to leave South Africa. I recommend travelling to everyone – it’s one of the most important investments you can acquire. I think South Africans often undersell themselves creatively; we are some of the coolest, smartest and most creative people in the world. I had to realise how cool South Africa was and even how cool I was, by leaving. It’s only once you step out of your own bubble, that you realise your creative relevance.”

Right now, the path is clear for Steve – the world is requiring our courage. With his point of view as the energetic and intellectual mediation between him, the work and the viewer –  Steve’s manifesto, rooted in choice, is a lesson on pursuing the call that we might feel internally; “we can’t just rely on making beautiful images anymore. We have to stand for something. Thank the gay heavens that I’m gay – I am really leaning into my homosexuality and queerness in general. You have to stand for something and put yourself out there, and have a vision and a voice.”

Written by: Holly Beaton