eKhaya is a body of work that explores the rural and peri-urban areas in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal provinces, South Africa. The project unpacks concepts of identity and cultural shifts that currently exist in modern day South African and that take place when people navigate from one environment to another. 

Mandisa Buthelezi, born in 1991 in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is a Photographer and Cultural Producer from Umlazi, Durban. She began as a self-taught photographer, documenting rural and peri-urban life in KwaZulu-Natal. Her skills were refined at the Durban Centre for Photography, under the mentorship of renowned photographer Peter McKenzie. 

Academically accomplished, Buthelezi holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (2021) and is pursuing a Master’s in Cultural Policy and Management (2023–) at the University of Witwatersrand. She also earned an Advanced Project Management Certificate (2018) from the University of Cape Town and a National Diploma in Construction Management and Quantity Surveying (2011) from Durban University of Technology.

Her photography captures the essence of African culture, exploring themes of identity, spirituality, and tradition. By documenting and cataloguing cultural narratives, her work bridges the past and present, using both colour and black-and-white imagery to spark dialogue on cultural preservation and progression.

eKhaya is printed with archival inks on Fine Art Paper with a matte finish.

Image courtesy of the artist. Cr. Andile Buka for iQhawe Magazine, 2025.