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ba·thong

excl. / loc. - Sepedi / Setswana, from batho: people.

  1. 1. what you say when you can't believe what you're seeing.
  2. 2. among the people - where this work is made.

Bathong. is a street and documentary photography collective. It starts in Pretoria, among the people, and walks outward from there: across the city, and in time across South Africa.

A collective, not a club. We walk together and we edit together. The founding circle looks at your frames and tells you what they see, frame by frame, online or in person. That is the teaching.

We photograph people as they are. Not always a happy story. Always a true one, at face value.

The people around the collective are part of it: photographers, editors, printers and friends who come to talk, to look at work, and to open doors.

A walk produces frames. A group edit turns frames into an essay. An essay earns a wall. A wall makes a photographer.

You keep your copyright. Always.

The founding circle.

Membership.

  • Photowalks Every walk, free for members.
  • The edit Your frames on the table with the founding circle. Online or in person.
  • Feedback Frame by frame. Honest, at face value.
  • Talks Sessions with the photographers, editors and friends around the collective.
  • Publication Photocalls, essays and the archive, always credited.
  • The wall Member work is first in line for exhibitions.
  • The card A membership card and your member number, for monthly and annual members.
  • Copyright You keep your copyright. Always.

One membership, one price

Join
R 250once
Monthly
R 100a month
Annual
R 1000a year

The card and your member number come with a monthly or annual membership. Monthly can stop any time.

Anyone can join. An account is free; membership is a plan and a card.

Join →

On the record.

Bathong. Collective is registering as a non-profit company (NPC) in South Africa. Registration number to follow. Photographers keep their copyright. Always.