Looking Through the Lens of Daniel Magidi

Some  of us may know him for his hilarious tweets and very interesting opinions about how he views our world however most of us know him more for his photography, which is just as thought provoking as his attention-grabbing tweets. This week we get to know Daniel Phumudzo Magidi II and find out more about his interesting relationship with photography. We also find out more about how he may see photography as more than just a hobby; “I see myself telling untold stories, travelling the world, changing people’s lives through images, yes, a great image can evoke strong emotions that changes one's perception of life, I see myself being the one whose pictures tell great stories from years to come.”

Before Daniel started taking photography seriously, which later lead to him being the Co-owner of RAW X CREATIVE as well being a finalists of the Canon SA photography competition in 2013, Daniel took pictures with his first Camera phone way back in 2006. “, when I got my first camera phone, I started taking pictures of children in the street, then as time went on I got a better camera phone, which encouraged me to take my screensavers for my phone instead of using ones that are default screensavers.” Daniels journey has been an interesting one since the days of him taking images with his phone because he is also the 1^st place Winner of the Sunday Times Generation Next Youth Photography Competition 2013.

However; behind every one of his shoots is an interesting story, one worth remembering; “My most memorable shoot was the one me and my friends decided to do in tribute to Mandela's death in december 2013 in search of anything that has "Mandela" on it, we travelled from JHB CBD, Braamfontein, and we went to his house in Alexandra township where he lived when he first arrived in joburg from Eastern Cape, we captured really great images and had a lot of fun, we learnt so much about our own history than the media tells us.”

Which is why one of the reasons he loves photography is the fact that, through photography you’re able to share stories, travel to unique places as well as having the amazing opportunity to explore our beautiful world. “I want to learn about the world, and learn more about myself through interaction with other people beyond my everyday routine. You meet people who literally change your life and it opens my mind about life.”

And so one can only believe Daniel when he says that he considers photography to be more than just a hobby, considering the fact that he left his studies in engineering soon after he found happiness in photography. “As I was studying Engineering at tertiary, it was a hobby, but that hobby grew in me so much, me and my friends at campus would literally bunk school on a Friday to go have a photo-shoot with a cell phone, we'd be in major trouble on Monday,  but after I won the Sunday times competition, I completely lost interest in engineering, with all that dy/dx, solve for x, I found so much happiness in photography, I then decided to just pursue photography and leave engineering. I haven't looked back since.”

Although photography may be his first love, he certainly does see himself getting into other forms of visual art. He may find an interest in graphic designing yet, he has fallen in love with motion pictures. “I am a movie lover, I can spend the whole week at home watching movies, not just any movie, it has to be a movie that after watching it, you feel a certain type of way, and makes you want to watch it again, look at epic movies like Inception, Memento, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Fight Club, Shutter Island, The beautiful Mind, etc. I want to make movies like that! In due time though.”

Even though he may enjoy watching movies during his spare time he does also enjoy chilling around his neighbourhood, “My favourite Hanging out place has to be right here in Soweto, nothing is more raw and doper than the township lifestyle we live in. I wish white people would come to the township and experience this awesome place!” However besides just chilling around his neighbourhood, you may often find him watching movies, listening to music, surfing the net and playing video games but one which comes as no surprise; he does tweet a lot, “what I do the most, is Tweet, I'm on 143258 tweets,  and counting”

Daniel may be a self-taught photographer however he does stress the importance of school; “go to school, learn the ins and outs of how to operate a DSLR camera, how to frame an image, etc., I'm a fast learner so I understood how to use a DSLR on manual mode in 5days, self-taught. Keep shooting, practice practice practice, link up with other photographers, collaborate, learn from each other, every shutter is a learning curve, research, remember, AN EXPENSIVE CAMERA DOESNT MAKE YOU A PHOTOGRAPHER, IT JUST MAKES YOU A PERSON WITH AN EXPENSIVE CAMERA.” And even though, he may be sharing some interesting advice he does believe that the following piece of advice is the best advice he has ever received; “If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff" - National Geographic Photographer”

5 more stylish minutes with Daniel

1.      If you had to invade a celebrity’s closet, which celebrity would it be (Internationally or locally)?

Closet, hmmm, I'd invade Pharrell Williams closet, have you seen how good Pharrell dresses? He dresses so timelessly, He's the only guy who rocks Uggs at Grammy awards and kills it, nobody said "eeuuwww, Uggs," like who does that?

2.      Where do you usually do your shopping?

I don't shop often , I haven't bought clothes in the past 3years because I do shoots for clothing brands and they also give me their awesome clothing too so I'm set. , but when I do shop, I shop at Sports scene, Mr. Price and woolworths, yes, woolworths, the little white kid in me is alive.

3.      Which item of clothing do you believe is a necessity and one cannot live without?

Sneakers, I'm a sneaker head, sneakers say a lot about a person’s personality and style, so sneakers and important!

4.      If you had to go shopping in a different country where would you go?

Shopping....haha, I'm not a fan of shopping but I'd totally go to China because they have the dopest and coolest things and they are super cheap, (don't support sweat shops), here in SA we only get 1/10th of the cool stuff that brands release. So I'd go to china. Come back with a plane full of gadgets and clothing.

5.      Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

Travelling the world, making movies, inspiring people, and being one of the best photographers in the world. :)

You can always follow Daniel on Twitter @SoSoDeezy or you can catch him on Facebook @ Daniel Magidi

Happy Shopping Guys

XoXo