Lunga Ntila is an emerging fine art photographer whose work is marked by storytelling, identity and deconstruction. She got into photography in the year 2014 when she purchased her first camera the Nikon D5200. With her Nikon D5200 she delved into self portraiture early on as it was an easier way for her to practice the skill of photography. She primarily uses digital collage and photography as a means of imparting perspective on existing stories. As archivist, she connects the dots between her own images and the disparate story references.
She does this through utilization of simple but significant elements such as colour, texture, emotion, and various settings. The basis for much of her work draws from movement, language, sound as well as, the basic composition of one’s everyday life. Casting a new light on the seemingly mundane and ordinary, Lunga Ntila gives the viewer unique access to a world reimagined.
While her career is one of considerably rapid emergence, Lunga Ntila, has garnered the attention of formidable art bodies both international and local . She has been commissioned by numerous publications and digital entities, including Bubblegum Club, which she shot renowned contemporary artist Lady Skollie, as well as a Mahaneela collaborative project commissioned by It’s Nice That for Dropbox. In an extensive project facilitated by Miller Genuine Draft, Lunga Ntila was spotlighted as a Cultural Trendsetter.
Ntila’s work has been showcased at the 2018 Art Book Fair in Sao Paulo, Brazil as well as at the 2018 Keyes Art Mile Summer Exhibition. Also in 2018 10and5 named her one of four South African creatives to watch alongside Nkhensani Mkhari, Rendani Nemakhavhani and Ferrari Sheppard. In 2019 she has shown at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, she was listed as a part of the Design Indaba's emerging creatives class. September 2019 Lunga Ntila had her first Solo exhibition titled Ukuzilanda at the Bkhz Gallery. In November 2019 Lunga participated in a group exhibition, Xposure, hosted by Bkhz at the Pretoria Art Museum, she also participated in a group show titled “The Head The Hand” at Blank Project.
"Lunga Ntila’s practice combines self-portraiture and collage-making to explore her spirituality. She takes a photograph of her face and uses it as the raw material for the production of her digital collages. Dismantling traditional realistic representation, she uses digital techniques such as cut-and-paste to repeat and stretch individual elements in places where they traditionally do not belong. With the photo collage, Ntila’s voice is active because she’s not just capturing images but also imposing a viewpoint by restructuring, distorting and displacing the visual information. In the process she is exploring self-understanding and the inner world through disclosure that is inherent in self portraiture, a move that similarly to Akunyili Crosby plays with the tension between interiority and exteriority." - Khumo Sebambo, “Home Is inside: On Neo Matloga, Ndijeka Akunyili Crosby and Lunga Ntila,” ArtThrob, May 18, 2020.
