Show & Tell with Dune Tilley

As a 15 year old, photographer Dune Tilley was already shooting in clubs, in matric he skipped out on a test to assist on a magazine cover shoot and landed his first big brand campaign shooting for Adidas. As an 18 year old, his ambition is single-minded, but he’s staying open to experiments in film and the inevitable evolution on the course to defining his style. For now, his fashion photographs of Cape Town’s it kids in local street wear labels possess a genuineness and a certain gentleness. He’s also attuned to the world around him through documentary photography which has taken him beyond the borders of the city. When he’s not picturing the life around him, he’s making music.

Here he shares the stories behind 5 of his favourite shots in a game of Show & Tell.

The first image is a picture of my girlfriend. There are few things I like capturing more than things closest to me, whether that be my friends or family or loved ones and places I frequent. The image was challenging to capture due to having to shoot handheld on medium format in such low light. The image was very rewarding and is still one of my favourite photographs to this day.

The two images here were made for Adidas. Both were shot on film. I like creating relationships between clothing, environments and people especially when it’s contracted work. I really love both of these images but the way they communicate together shows the power and dexterity of images.

This image was made for Young and Lazy in 2017. It was three outfits, myself and one of my closest friends, and his grandmother’s apartment complex. We shot about 3 rolls over the course of the afternoon and the spontaneity and experimentation really ended up producing some fantastic imagery

This photograph was made during a documentary project through the Eastern Cape. This was really the kind of image I was wishing to make and had been trying to for several years. Pure spontaneous documentary photography with almost perfect balance. The harmony really stood out for me, it’s one of my favourite photographs.

This was taken during a walk about in the park. The lady was completely covered in birds – I just had to photograph her. I feel like there was quite a lot of drama in the image which is why it stood out to me.

More of Dune’s work on Instagram and Soundcloud.

Interview by Alix Rose Cowie.