Leon Chauke

eon Chauke is a self-taught photographer and collage artist that lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa. He started his career in advertising as a graphic designer in 2017. In his personal work, Leon focuses on telling Authentic South African stories that are relatable and familiar. His work strives to inspire South Africa and Africa to tell its own stories. “My childhood and upbringing have a huge influence on my work. On the one hand, growing up in Tembisa was magical and gave me a sense of the richness and beauty of the small daily victories and challenges that made my community. So this understanding that every person has a story and that story is worth capturing has shaped my work. Interacting with people through my lens gives me a new language through which to express my emotions - pain, joy, sadness, forgiveness - without having to necessarily articulate those emotions in words. I am drawn to unearthing the soulfulness in the stories I get an opportunity to tell. I love to create work that has a nostalgic feeling, a relatable feeling, a sense of newness and familiarity. I strive to create work that allows the viewer/audience to relive moments they have shared with friends, loved ones, and their community.