Anele Oluchi Sahar Nyanda on Photography, Faith, and Tradition
Interview by Anastatia Nkhuna
I got to know Anele Oluchi Sahar Nyanda, a film photographer whose practice is rooted in analog, intuition, and memory. Her journey flows from studying film at AFDA, where she majored in colour grading and editing, to weaving those skills into a language of light, texture, and faith. Raised between Johannesburg and Durban, Anele’s path shifted when she embraced Islam, a choice that reshaped how she sees herself and the world, and how she chooses to frame it.
Her debut series, Threaded by Faith, began with a personal question: how do you honour tradition while walking in modesty? From that seed grew a body of work that reimagines modest fashion through Zulu, Ndebele, Somali, and Swahili influences offering new narratives for young African Muslim women. Each image feels stitched together not only with fabric, but with collaboration, trust, and the desire to show what has not yet been seen.
For Anele, photography is both archive and offering a reflection of growth, faith, and the questions she carries. Every image is a thread: part record, part search, part prayer. As her work moves toward fine art, exhibitions, and a journey across Africa, Anele continues to pursue what she calls the “authentic African story,” one frame at a time.
For someone meeting Anele for the first time, how would you describe what you do and the kind of art you love to make? Tell us about where that stemmed from? What was your upbringing like? What did you study or still studying?
If someone who doesn’t know me asked who I am, I’d describe myself first and foremost as a film photographer. Most of my work is analog, I shoot on film and I think of my practice as guided by intuition.
My photographs are a way of showing the world as I see it, beautiful, different, shaped by my upbringing and the experiences I’ve lived through. I also create what I wish existed.
I’m currently studying film at AFDA. Honestly, I wanted to focus only on photography, but my dad insisted I pursue a degree. I initially started with law at UP, but after a year I left and enrolled at AFDA for a Higher Certificate in Film. I thought that would be enough, but my dad encouraged me to continue into the degree program. Now, I’m majoring in colour grading and editing, which, in a way, feeds back into my photography. Learning how to shape color in film has sharpened the way I think about light, tone, and emotion in my images.
I grew up between Johannesburg and Durban, primary school here, and then high school mostly in boarding school in KZN. My parents weren’t strict in a traditional sense. My dad is atheist, my mom Catholic but not practicing, so we weren’t raised in the church. In fact, my dad didn’t want us baptized so that we could choose for ourselves later. That choice led me to Islam. At a point in my life when I needed grounding, I was drawn to the faith through friends, through reading, through curiosity. I embraced Islam last year in March 2024, and it’s been transformative. It opened me up to a world I hadn’t known before and shifted how I live, think, and see, Subhanallah.
What was the starting point for Threaded by Faith, was it a visual idea, a personal story, or a broader cultural conversation?
When I embraced Islam, one of the biggest shifts I had to make was in the way I dressed. Modesty became central, and that was very different from how I used to dress. The challenge really hit me during my brother’s traditional Zulu wedding in December. Zulu attire for younger women consists of short skirts, bare shoulders and I found myself asking: how do I show up in my culture while still honoring my faith?
That moment planted the seed for this project. I realized I can’t be the only Muslim woman in South Africa navigating this space, trying to balance tradition and modesty. But when I looked around, I didn’t see any examples or references. That absence made me want to create the images I wished existed.
At first, I thought about framing it as an Eid Africa series, what would Eid look like if it was expressed through African cultures and textures? But Ramadan was intense, and I didn’t have the time to reach out widely. Instead, I started small, photographing Sumaya, a Somali woman, in her traditional clothing just after Eid. That session expanded my vision and gave me something beautiful to build from.
I’d also been noticing how East and West African women seemed to merge modesty and culture more seamlessly, probably because Islam has been rooted in those regions for centuries. I wanted to see how that could translate into a South African context. So myself and one of the other models, Amina, reached out to women we knew, Shakirah, who’s Zulu like me, and Zinhle, who’s Ndebele. Including them made the project feel even closer to my heart. It became less about just solving my personal question and more about opening up a visual space where faith and culture could exist together, side by side, without compromise.
The garments and accessories are deeply symbolic, how did you ensure their representation was respectful and accurate?
I made sure to style each model in a way that was authentic to her specific culture, but the common thread connecting everyone was that they were Muslim. It was important to me that the women on set weren’t just subjects, but part of a shared experience. Even behind the camera, I built a team of Muslim women. The production design by Heebah and the creative direction by Farah were handled by women who understood the nuances of faith and modesty, so there was a lot of collaboration and intention in how everything came together.
One of the models was a Swahili girl with Rwandan and Ugandan roots. Working with her was a beautiful process because it went beyond surface-level styling, I collaborated with her directly, and she even reached out to her family for input. They helped her source the garments she wore, which made the shoot feel deeply connected to her own heritage. That mix of research, collaboration, and lived knowledge was what made the project feel so authentic and alive.
Collaboration was a really big part of the process for me. I didn’t want the project to be shaped only by my perspective or limited to my own knowledge. I wanted everyone involved to feel comfortable and respected, and for the images to carry an authenticity that came from the women themselves. Having a team where the common thread was that we were all Muslim really helped. Modesty was already understood, so the focus became how to weave it together with the richness of our different cultures. It was a process built on trust, research, and shared intention, and that made the final work feel true to everyone who was part of it.
What does the title Threaded by Faith mean to you personally?
What really stood out to me through this project was the bond that formed between us. I didn’t know any of the women personally beforehand, but over the course of the shoot we created something that felt like sisterhood. I’m deeply grateful to them, because I couldn’t have done this without their openness and willingness to share themselves. One of the models even came on her birthday, she set aside her own celebration to be part of the project, and afterwards we all sat together, ate pizza, and just connected.
That experience reminded me that this work is about more than images. It’s about community, faith, and care. Even the name Thread came from that idea: of stitching things together, weaving different pieces into something whole. For me, so much of my life is held together by faith, my faith in God and this project became a reflection of that. It showed me how art, culture, and belief can come together to create something bigger than ourselves.
How do you define your style at this stage, and do you think it will evolve?
At this stage, I’d describe my style as very Afrocentric. I’m drawn to telling African stories, authentic ones that often aren’t given the spotlight they deserve. For me, Africa is such a beautiful and layered place, yet it’s still so underrated in how it’s represented. I want my work to challenge that by highlighting traditions, cultures, and everyday perspectives that aren’t always seen.
A big priority for me is to travel across the continent, to immerse myself in its different landscapes and communities, and to capture those stories visually. I think photography allows me to honor what’s already here while also reimagining how Africa is seen through our own eyes, and on our own terms.
What role does intuition play in your photography compared to planning and technical precision?
I would say most of my work is guided by intuition. Of course, there’s the technical side, but it’s really intuition that leads me. Colour grading plays a role too, it’s changed how I see colour and how certain tones work together. For this shoot, for example, I draped backdrops from different materials in colors that complemented what the models were wearing. Beforehand, I asked each of them what shades their garments would be, then built the visual language from there.
The whole shoot actually didn’t go as planned. I was meant to be in a studio, but the location canceled on me at the last minute. So I ended up asking my dad if I could use his garden, and we had to freestyle most of it on the day. In a way, that made the process even more intuitive. We pulled things directly from his house, chairs, fabrics, even hunting memorabilia. There’s one shot with a kudu, for instance, which was never part of the plan. My dad had kept the skin from the first animal he hunted, and when Farah suggested pairing it with the cowhide we already had, it suddenly made sense. The textures and colours gave the image this unexpected power.
So while I had an idea of the backdrops, most of what came together was improvised by trusting instinct, responding to the space, and letting the moment shape the final work.
What kind of opportunities or projects do you hope to work on? What's on your bucket list?
After the exhibition I had at The Clubhaus , I’ve been thinking more seriously about the direction I want to take, and I definitely see myself moving further into fine art photography. I want my photographs to live beyond the gallery to exist in people’s homes, as part of their everyday spaces, something they can live with. That feels really important to me.
I’d love to do more fine art exhibitions, both solo and group, and I’m open to any opportunities that allow me to deepen my practice in that space. I have already started working on what I hope will turn into my next exhibition where I would like to inshallah shine a light on the flowers of our revolution, the women who bravely sacrificed their lives for our democracy. At the same time, I want to keep traveling across Africa and capture traditions, cultures, and landscapes, while also collaborating with other African artists and brands that align with my vision.
I’ve also realised that I want to study photography further. When I started out, I didn’t even know photography degrees existed, but now I feel drawn to sharpen my craft academically as well. It feels like the natural next step alongside the practice itself.
