13 Aug 2024

What started off as  just a hobby for Thapelo ‘Capzella’ Bailelwang now puts bread on the table. He discovered his passion for photography at a tender age and has since then worked hard to realise his dream of building a photo studio. 

An auto mechanic by profession, Bailelwang branched into the fascinating world of photography capturing everything that catches his eye. The Bogogobo-native, who was raised in Gaborone, sees photography as a universal form of expression, which cuts across all sectors and is filled with infinite possibilities. 

A husband and a father of five, Bailelwang is one of the small thriving photographic community in Tsabong placing Kgalagadi on the map through the lens. For him, waking up every day is an opportunity  to explore something new to capture with his camera and share with the world. 

“That is the beauty of photography. It opens up doors for me to network, meet new people and when lucky sometimes, to strike business online,” he said in an interview. The 47-year-old  self-taught photographer believes in learning something new about taking pictures every day. He turns to the World Wide Web for self-teachings to give his clients good work because for him it is all about the details and the emotions captured in the photo. 

“I started falling in love with the camera while I was doing Form One. I met a pupil  who was business minded. We became friends and started off selling peanuts, then later sold oranges. From my profit I bought myself a small pocket camera and since then I always keep a pocket camera,” he said.  He used the camera during schools sports competitions and prize giving ceremonies to make money. 

“I was well known in my school. All those who wanted to take pictures came to me including teachers who engaged me after school and paid,” he said. 

By then his aunt who used to travel abroad bought him his professional first camera, which was a Nikon F34 in 1989 as a gift upon noticing his passion for photography. 

Bailelwang used the camera on his first wedding engagement at Thamaga then took pictures of family gatherings and many others. He later put away the camera for some time to focus on studies, and resuscitated his hobby when he was working at a supply chain and logistics company in Maun. He bought a second hand Nikon D33. “Every weekend I would go out and take pictures, which I did not really use but was just shooting for fun,” he said. 

Then came the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, which caused most companies to fold. 

“We were working in a high density tourism area where most of our logistics clientele were lodges in the Okavango Delta. The frequent movement restrictions worldwide resulted in a decline of  tourists numbers, which led to most companies laying off staff,” he said. In 2020 the company he worked for took a decision to retrench staff, six of them being   from Maun.  

“Due to recovery uncertainty I volunteered to offer my space for one of them since they were younger than me. I wanted to get closer to home in Tsabong. It was during tough and uncertain times and so I wanted to be at my home village with family and so we relocated,” he said. 

The COVID-19 outbreak caused a shift in his mindset and he began to view the world differently. When His Excellency President Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi launched the Mindset Change Campaign at Zutshwa, something in Bailelwang stirred.  As a responsible family man, he knew he had to change the way he had been doing things and look at photography differently and explore possibilities. 

He intensified his photography hustle and it proved that it could put bread on the table. He then bought another camera to improve the quality of his equipment. Later on he registered Capzella Photography company and he is now in the process of starting a photo studio. 

He earns his income from shooting weddings, Magadi, football games, soccer meetings and individual clients. 

He has come up with innovative ways to attract more clients and uses digital platforms such as social media where he currently shares his pictures. His initiative to post about the Tsabong District events on social media has yielded results as more people are now calling for his photography services. 

He also takes advantage of constituency arts competitions, submitting his works where he has won once and has learnt that he could achieve more other than entering competitions. 

“As artists we must do away with relying on government and start to create opportunities for ourselves,” he says. 

According to the citizen photographer, there are a lot of exceptionally talented youth artists with great potential but the challenge is that they are heavily reliant on the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture competitions to make something out of their artwork. 

He said they could do more if they set out to improve and find market independently or take initiative to showcase their artworks to the public. 

“For me, mindset change means creating opportunities for myself. I have been pushing my hustle on Facebook but will soon open Instagram and a Facebook page and YouTube to sell my artwork. Mindset change requires that one brings fresh perspective, increases the volume a bit more,” he said. ENDS