IT AIN’T SOMETHING IF IT AIN’T TALL!

This month we sit down a man who simply fell in love with taking pictures, he draws his inspiration from everything surrounding him. Meet Kagiso Ntshabeleng, a professional photographer, he has his own company called Something Tall Photography. The Village Mag had a conversation in this EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with the lanky photographer.

Hailing all the way from Thabampshe village which is located in Ga-Sekhukhune in the Limpopo Province. There is something stunning about how Kagiso takes his job seriously. He has been in the industry for almost eight years since 2013 then using his cellphone to capture pictures thus creating long lasting memories for himself and those around him including his clients. “Before I used to use my phone, I would clean my phone’s lens and take pictures” he said and thanks to the advancement in technology, key innovations such as Google Drive, social media and cloud storage which is a model of computer data storage in which the digital data is stored in logical pools. The above ensures that pictures and media is stored and transferred efficiently and diligently.

Kagiso tells us that there are different types of photography such food photography, these are the guys we see who take pictures for food outlets. The same can be said about car photography, the pictures we see online are taken by car enthusiasts who are also exceptionally in the field. Photography is a specialist job which requires one to be passionate, talented and sometimes educated but the most important factor is to always be punctual.

When asked if it is important for an aspiring photographer to go to school is important Something Tall said “this thing has to be a passion that you have, and school is there to enhance talent so school is important but you need to be talented”. Punctuality is vital in a sense that you only get one chance to take that special moment; imagine the bride and groom are putting on the rings and you as the hired photographer fails to take that shot. This is why Kagiso proudly tells us that in all his years as a photographer, he has never been late to a scheduled photoshoot, something he does not have any desires to change any time soon.

He is what one would call a general photographer meaning he simply loves taking pictures of everything and everyone. He does corporate functions, weddings, parties you name it, if it needs pictures he is the man. His famous catchphrase is “it ain’t Something if it ain’t Tall”. One of the biggest highlights of his career is the call he received sometime last year from the Personal Assistant to the media personality Bonang Matheba, she fell in love with his work that she saw on Instagram. A photoshoot was scheduled to take place in Stellenbosch but then coronavirus happened and then everything was put on hold. 

His advice to those who has desires to become professional photographers one day is that they need to be sure and ensure that this is exactly what they love. Photography is an art and artistry requires a lot of training, reading and patience as it comes from within but highly affected by external factors such as light, wind, moving and stationery objects etc. Below are some of his best pictures which shows just how much of an excellent photographer Kagiso really is.

His handle is Something Tall in all social media platforms, do follow him.