Biography and Artist Statement
Biography
Stefanie studied at the National College of Photography in Pretoria, where she graduated with a joint best portfolio award, (2004). After her studies, she started a commercial photography studio and was represented by Shine Photographers Johannesburg, (2005 – 2007). In 2008, Stefanie moved to the UK where she studied for a diploma in Transpersonal Integrative Psychotherapy at the Centre for Counseling and Psychotherapy Education in London, (2009 – 2013). This experience of an in-depth inquiry into the human psyche informs her work as a fine art photographer. In June 2015 Stefanie returned to South Africa. She has been a full-time artist since 2015. In 2022 she was awarded as one of the winners of The British Journal of Photography’s Female in focus awards. She has also been awarded as a finalist in the Lensculture Black and White awards 2023, and recently became a winner in the Lensculture Art photography awards 2024. Her work has been featured in The Guardian, British Journal of Photography, Brenda Magazine,
Hashtagphotomag, Unvael Journal, Oath Journal, Korper Magazine, Accumen Magazine etc. She has been exhibited all around South Africa as well as in London, UK; Paris, France; Uslan, South Korea; Miami, and in New York, USA.
One of her images has been published in Eye Mama: Poetic Truths of Home and Motherhood by Karni Arieli. Her image was chosen out of 4000 images that were submitted and is one of 228 published in this book. The forward is written by Allesia Glaviano from Photo Vogue. Eye Mama has been reviewed and featured in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Elle, The British Journal of Photography, to name but a few.
“My work is mainly concerned with the feminine, and what it means to be a woman, with a special focus on girlhood, pregnancy and motherhood. I look at how self-image, body image and perceptions of the feminine self become distorted through what is being mirrored to us in a society that is so obsessed with the female image. My images represent in most part manifestations of emotional and feeling states, quietly making the invisible more visible. Throughout my work, I also explore themes of love and fear, death and transformation, gender, relationship, and dreams.”