4. The Photographer: Gabriella Achadinha
“I love working with women and discovering the female form,” Gabriella Acha tells me from Cape Town when I ask her about what shapes her photographic aesthetic. “I enjoy shooting women like artist Laura Windvogel or singer Nonku Phiri; strong personalities who are also talented and beautiful.” Despite her whimsical and striking images of these subjects, Acha has also turned her lens on the hypermasculine, like the men in a documentary which she produced and co-directed, called Lavender Hill Better Bodies. Following her studies at film school Afda, the Bloemfontein-born Acha currently works as a production co-ordinator in the film industry but says she enjoys embarking on side “projects like with musicians Nonku and Yannick Ilunga [Petite Noir]”. With hopes to gather images from her recent travels in countries like Mozambique, Namibia and Spain and Italy for an exhibition in the near future, Acha says she enjoys shooting digitally but “tends to stick to 35mm. It’s really moving and comes out with this unique look to it.” Her images are case in point.
