Thato Mabaso

Thato Mabaso's love of the curated image took root during his younger years, when he saw his own township life reflected on South African television at the height of its most authentic period of representation. That early experience of seeing his own community portrayed on screen shaped his understanding of what visual storytelling could do, and it continues to inform his work today. As a self-taught photographer and videographer, Mabaso has built most of his skills over the years through close, hands-on work with people whose careers he had followed and admired. He served as an assistant across various scales of production, learning by doing rather than through formal training, and absorbing techniques directly from more experienced creatives he respected. That apprenticeship-style path, learning on the job across different production environments, has given Mabaso a practical, grounded skill set as both a photographer and videographer. His journey from an admiring viewer of authentic on-screen storytelling to an active creator of that same kind of content reflects a career built on genuine passion translated into practical craft.