Lethabo Rapoo is an aspiring creative entrepreneur who specialises in photography and creative work, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.Raised in different locations around Johannesburg such as Alex, Tembisa and Soweto.
His endearment for photography was highly influenced by successful as well as favoured photography collectives such as, “ I See A Different You “ , Street Etiquette, and Justice Mukheli.
His journey started when he wanted to document and notify the narrative of local black girls through his photography. In 2016 he inaugurated a campaign called “ Hunt For Melanin “ which was founded by both Lethabo Rapoo and Noko Malatjie.
The whole initiative behind the campaign is to abolish the stigma that social media portrays about women of colour around the continent.In his work he focuses on shooting a variety of divergent women that will assist him to tell their narratives and challenge people’s notions on what they think about women of colour.
The girls he works with normally have an Afrocentric and Bohemian look to intensify the alluring beauty portrayed by woman of colour. Lethabo has a different way of taking and demonstrating expressions on his images.“ Women are being abused around the world based how they look and most of them don’t have a voice to speak and some consider suicide as a scapegoat.
I want the world to appreciate and value women of colour, hence why I use my photography as my voice to the voiceless . The women around me are my inspiration because their beauty allows me to express myself through my photography. “
