media update’s David Jenkin quizzed him on his story.

So give us a bit of history about yourself – where are you from and how long have you been a photographer?

Once upon a time, I was born in Port Elizabeth and stayed there until 2014, then I moved to Cape Town. I've been taking photos for about nine years now.

When did you start byjono.co.za, what was the motivation behind it, and what did you envisage?

The website was launched on 1 January 2016 as a visual diary of sorts. It's the kind of bookmark that I was looking for; a place where I could find hacks, tips, gear, and some music from time-to-time.

What gets your inspiration flowing, i.e. what kind of photos do you love taking the most? Any particular favourite subject matter?

I've been very fortunate in the fact that I have been able to explore documentary photography (that's what I like the most) after having spent a very, very long time taking photos of people at parties. It's always been fun taking photos of people getting loose, but portraits and documentary photography allow me to explore a different aspect in creating images.

Something like the images that are created in the same vein as projects like #latenightportrait or #FacesOfCTEMF that were part of my personal projects, are a prime example of the kind of images that I like creating.

Please tell us a little about #FacesOfCTEMF (Cape Town Electronic Music Festival) – what’s it all about?

The "faces" project was born out of a passion project - #latenightportrait - where I captured some of the biggest and best event promoters, artists, and DJs the country has seen, and took those very people creating the parties out of that environment. The difference for #FacesOfCTEMF was that, with the help of Red Bull Mobile, we aimed to show the faces at Cape Town Electronic Music Festival.

Some of the most influential names in electronic music gather for a week of learning and indulgence in an effort to, "define your sonic identity". The faces weren't confined to the headliners and the big names – it expanded to include anyone that I could wrangle into the booth for a portrait.

Do any other recent projects stand out in your mind and, if so, why were they special?

Last year was completely exhilarating! I spent most of my time in Red Bull Studios, and had the opportunity to work with some of the artists that I had always had on my "punch card". I was lucky enough to have a shoot with Moonchild published in both the South African and UK editions of Red Bulletin.

Between shooting Mumford & Sons, Jungle, Of Monsters & Men, urban exploration, billboards, shooting the guys from Funny Or Die, and an amazing trip to Austria – the one thing I did that pushed me out of my comfort zone was the music video that I shot for Youngsta and Stilo Magolide. We shot in a really cool penthouse and spent the night in Mannenberg with the community crowded around us. They're all in the music video.

You’re active on many different platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Vine, Instagram, etc.) – does it ever get overwhelming?

It can be a little overwhelming to try and maintain all of those channels but I feel like they each have their strengths and that's what I try to cater to. Mostly I try and use all of my social media as a portal to byjono.co.za, because that's where I put in the most effort and it functions like a portfolio that is in flux.

Maintaining the website has been my main concern and all of my social media works hand-in-hand with that. I feel like the voice that you develop across your platforms is important – it's really interesting how different the tone is on different platforms. When I started taking photos, there wasn't Instagram or Vine – finding your favourite photographer was really a case of finding them on Facebook, Twitter, and their website/Tumblr/blog.

For someone considering (or working at), not necessarily photography blogging but blogging in general, what advice would you offer them?

My top three tips for blogging are:

  • Find what you want to blog about. What is the thing that you can post about with authority?
  • Post regularly - much like my advice for Instagram, you want to create a schedule that is reliable. For me, that's posting every Monday morning. The playlist posts go up on the last Friday of every month so they're wildcard posts; and
  • Get your content out there. Share it. The stuff you create cannot live solely on your blog, you need to give it some legs by showing the people in your networks that you're working. Let them share in your creation.

For more information, visit www.byjono.co.za. Alternatively, connect with him on Instagram.

The photography world is always changing. Read more in our article about a photographer without a camera, Ben Moyo challenges the photography rule book.