David is a creative mind from a township, I grew up in tembisa until 2001 where I moved to Midrand, to a township called Kaalfontein… we used to make jokes when we were young in high school and said that’s where the dust belongs, but yeah it is a dusty place. Yeah, David is a photographer/ videographer inspiring and a metographer, well, I’m all about doing like crazy stuff in my life you know, I’m just a creative who’s sometimes so immersed and like this up surd kinda thinking that people just don’t understand but gradually they start seeing that ethic has its place to play and you know what I want to do in life and what I want to accomplish, but yeah otherwise as David, David is a politically influenced guy, he’s a reader, a critical thinker and he really could teach a lot of things, He’s one person that would make you question what you are telling him, Yeah, that’s just David.
Who or what got you into photography?
Actually, that’s an interesting story, I remember initiation when I enrolled at UJ for fine arts, I met a called Nzolo Bidla, who’s now an in-law of mine, Lol I know that’s actually mixed up but yeah he’s dating my sister. I met that guy when I was walking and ummm… I don’t know like, I had like a different idea of who I was going to be and who I applied to be in varsity. so when we walked in he told me that he was into certain photography and that he did photography, he already had a camera by that time, so the same day I held his camera, I took one picture and he was like “Wow that’s actually a great picture, is this your first time using a camera?” and I said “Yeah actually, this is my first time”. I even asked him where the shooter was to take the picture and he couldn’t believe, so from that moment on I started being friends with the Kats from multimedia while I was doing fine arts, I had a very few friends from the fine arts course at that time, I also had friends who were doing second year in multimedia. Yeah, so that’s what got me to photography… Nzolo actually was my saviour, he is the one that actually got me to photography and he’s the one who we started Blaq Eez Art together. It actually makes sense how I’m Blaq and he’s Eez and the name actually came about as Blaq Eez Art, so yeah we started a company together and yeah, he’s the one who got me into photography, Nzolo Bidla.
Besides Photography, what else can David do?
I did fine Arts only first year and dropped out due to financial obstacles and also because I wasn’t interested anymore, I do a lot of things like what a creative does, that’s also a very hard question to answer, I remember one of my friends called Bush Mahlathini who also wrote an article on his tumbler page and he spoke about how people would expect a definite answer from a creative person while you do so many things, so yeah, I’m a creative myself, I can do so many things, I’m a video editor, photo editor, photographer, videographer, reader, a researcher, I’m interested in politics, I’m a writer… yo there’s so many things yo, so I’m just gonna say I’m a creative yo…
Do you want to say anything about Blaq Eez Art?
I actually wanna say a lot about Blaq Eez Art, that’s my baby yo… Blaq Eez art was established back in 2013 when Nzolo and I were still in school, it basically started as this naïve kind of photography thing that everyone is doing right now, and gradually as we came through the years I started reading about other photographers and I came through one guy called Sadi Cali…who is one of my biggest influence actually right now, he calls himself a photovangelist so basically what he does is that he preaches through his art, so I also wanted to preach through my art and that’s how the Blaq Eez that you see right now came about, so Blaq Eez is a platform or a drive that learns about women throughout Africa and projects the feminism thoughts to everyone who needs to know about feministic thought, so Blaq Eez art is a platform for women to speak whatever they need to speak and besides that, Blaq Eez Art I could say it is one of the best kept secrets in the country right now, so when it comes out you yo… Lol. Blaq Eez art is also working on an illustrated book with David Blaq (Me, Myself). So yeah, that’s what I can say about Blaq Eez art
How is the response from family and friends on this journey of yours?
a lot of my friends don’t understand what I’m doing and think it’s just a pervertic kind of David playing along with him and his passion and it is not even that, some responses have been very good, in terms of learning about women and also projecting what women feel, some friends had to say good things… my family, my sister always influences the political perspective in everything that I do and that just also helps me not to drift away from that naïve to an informed kind of David Blaq and also Blaq Eez art that also teaches… I mean it is a sensitive issue when it comes to speaking about women as a man. But yeah my family has just been so supportive you know
How can people reach your work?
Facebook: David Blaq Motsomotso
Instagram: @david_blaq
www.blaqeezart.co.za
Shout outs?
Shout out to my team, my sister, all my models, my supportive friends,
My best friend Dallas, Spiro and also Rap type Mag for having me
Great people worked with?
Yoh I’ve worked with a lot of people, a lot of interesting characters, to mention some;
My models, Andile Biyana, Martha, Bosh Mahlathini, Ofentse photographers, Letago Mojalefa, Paul Samuels, Lesedi Motsoagae… few groups, The future is female… those are the least that I can remember right now
What can we expect from David or Blaq Eez Art?
Yoh there’s a lot of projects, one you need to know about is Bosh Mahlathini’s photo series called Disconnected and that’s the very interesting one, he’s just trying to communicate such a beautiful idea, it’s been an on-going thing that’s been happening around Africa as a whole, but he’s just one drive that’s trying to project this big idea that people are just so narrow minded about.
Just go to Instagram @disconnectedthekollectiv
The other one I’m working on is the future is female, this is a group of girls that are working on embracing women’s challenges and actually communicating feministic thoughts throughout south Africa and they working on video series, so I’m also on the artistic side and conceptual side of things and capturing those moments, and I’m actually working on my book, yo that’s actually a big one for Blaq Eez Art, watch out for it yo, by next year march I’ll be done with it.
Word to someone who wishes to be like David?
For the people who want to be like David, don’t be as crazy as David, just be like David but not as crazy as he is, but watch out for a lot of things, watch out for being looked at as being bossy, controlling, hard worker, teaching, but when it comes to video and photography, just do crazy and amazing things, don’t do normal things because everyone is doing normal things and you gonna be a memory buried in three months… so just don’t be exactly like David cos you donna be crazy… Lol
Xxx End xxX
