Cole Ndelu

Cole Ndelu is a photographer and contemporary artist currently based in Durban, South Africa where they are also an artist in residence with the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal as an Artist Protection Fund Fellow. Ndelu graduated in 2016 from the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography with a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication, majoring in Photography.

Ndelu’s work occupies the intersection between art, fashion, documentary, and spirituality, and explores the themes of vulnerability, self-care, justice, and space. They work primarily with photography but also work with mediums such as text, sound, collage, and motion as a fledgling director and cinematographer.

In 2017 Ndelu was both a Finalist and Commended Photographer at the Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA) for the projects #blackboyjoy and Pride in the Panther. The SWPA exhibition launched in London before travelling to 16 countries. Since then, Ndelu has received a Getty Images Creative Bursary Grant, which I completed in 2018; an Arthouse UK Residency in 2019; and an Adobe Creative Residency: Community Fund in 2020, where they produced 20 discovery assets for Lightroom. Ndelu was also selected to form part of the team that developed the Corporate Identity for the V&A Waterfront’s new food space, Makers Landing. Their work has been showcased at the Manchester Contemporary Art Fair and the FNB Art Fair and has been included in 27 exhibitions in four years. They have also produced work for Adobe Max as a playlist curator and Adobe Stock as one of the recipients of Adobe’s Artist Development Fund.