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I met Nikelwa as she was returning from work, still wearing the white hair net from her job at the local fish factory, where young women are employed at low wages due to their lack of professional skills.
Despite the modesty of her factory attire, she radiated such beauty and grace that I was inspired to draw parallels to Thandiwe, the Zulu deity associated with love, beauty, and harmony. I added to the portrait a small scrap of luxurious fabric somebody gave me that day.
Interestingly, Nikelwa's name means "offering," and even at her young age, her life has already been marked by many sacrifices for her family, with, unfortunately, likely more to come.
'Portrait of Nikelwa'
2019 / South Africa
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