Zivanai Matangi is a documentary and performance photographer, and is the Process Photographer for The Centre for the Less Good Idea.

Family photographs sparked Matangi’s interest in the photographic medium from an early age and after arriving in Johannesburg from Zimbabwe, he began working in photo labs and camera stores, first as a printing assistant in the labs, and later managing and overseeing labs and stores. These early interactions and experiences with commercial film photography have lent him a strong affinity toward the importance of a single image, what a photograph does, how it represents a moment or a person, and what the medium of photography means to the average person. It also lent him an intuitiveness that is still present in his practice today.

Following some photographic work with Trinity Sessions for a public art project in Johannesburg, Matangi was introduced to The Centre in its second Season by visual artist Marcus Neustetter. Since then, Matangi has worked to document and interpret the myriad perspectives and processes at The Centre, working alongside videographers and writers to capture the workshops, rehearsals, and live performances as well as its individual performers, the technicians, production team-members, and all of the moments in between.

For Matangi, photographing for The Centre affords him a level of creativity and experimentation that’s expanded his view on the craft, exponentially. He cites his time with The Centre as having contributed a great deal to his growth as a photographer, as well as his journey as an artist. Instinct, sensitivity, and a love for storytelling are all qualities that he holds close to his practice.

Most recently, Matangi has been applying his photographic skills in a more collaborative capacity at The Centre, working to photograph artists and their work for The Centre’s public art project The Highway Notice Project, as well as co-curating seven Seasons of photographic work at The Centre for its 2020 online project, #FromTheArchive.

PHOTOGRAPHER | Thusi Vukani