One of my favourite creatives to work with is Centich Toko who is a multi-disciplinary creative who dabbles in makeup artistry, fashion and hair styling and creative direction. She is an unconventional kid who tries a whole lot of different things that undoubtedly cement her distinct style and improves on the work she had planned and executed.
When developing a concept or getting ready to style someone she always tells herself and that allows her to keep improving things on the spot and makes for great outputs. Speaking to herself in this manner helps her brain to expect more and thus come up with better ideas and remain open to other colours, shapes and textures.
During this shoot we had 3 hairstyle changes; all the hairstyles where very colourful and widely found within most African cultures infused with a little creative manipulation to express the stylist’ creativity. Pieces of fabric, wire, paper clips and beads were used to make the hairstyles stand out.
Shooting at an arts studio allowed for an endless supply of possible back drops and other prop for the shoot. Seen in some of these pictures is Angolian artist João Ladeira’ paintings and some collage print fabric works which completed the outfits so well and allowed us bring the vision of our work to life. We shot at The Project Space in Johannesburg; a space for different artists to create art pieces individually or find other artists and collaborate across different disciplines.
It’s so much fun being a model on a shoot that keeps developing as new ideas are being generated as we work because it gets to challenge me to bring the vision to life. That is why I love working with Centich Toko because she is so crafty and all our shoots are like an Arts and Crafts project. If she is not sewing some piece of clothing then she is making a ridiculously cool head piece.
Creative Direction, Styling and Makeup by Centich Toko
Model: Vuyiso Tshabalala
Photographer: Nyakozayo Shezi
Location: The Project Space
Afrikan Princess 