Justine* is an international fashion photographer. She’s just arrived in Cape Town for the week and we meet and talk over some wine at Headquarters in Heritage square. The flamboyant drumming Frenchman, DJ Rene, isn’t playing tonight but the courtyard is still packed on a summery Friday evening. We talk work. It’s unavoidable after the second glass of Marklew Merlot. She tells me to get out of Cape Town. ‘You’ll never really make it here, there are too many other photographers’. I’ll never stand out she says. I have to move overseas to an international fashion or advertising capital. She used to be based in Cape Town, but moved to Dubai to earn The Real Dollars. So I hear.

She’s right. I do bump into another photographer every week, sometimes I hear of even two or three new ones a day. Even this morning. ‘Have you met my friend Marcus, he’s a photographer. He did that ad with the crossbow. He’s faaaaaamous’. While on a shoot I often overhear a model or a make up artist gushing about an amazingly fabulous international photographer they worked with recently. Needless to say I mentally jot down his name and jealously google every piece of work he’s done that same evening.

It’s a struggle not to compare yourself to other photographers and I’m often overcome by a huge fear that there is too much competition in the City. But then I remind myself that I haven’t had a day off from shooting in the last 3 weeks. It’s really important to concentrate your own work and your own projects. My girlfriend put it well. “Andrew you don’t have to be famous, you just have to be really good”. The reason I pursued my passion full time was not for the money or for fame. The reason was to do something I really love doing, producing beautiful images, and somehow still pay the rent.

Cape Town has an amazing creative culture and a community that have absorbed my work and also challenged me with unique and interesting projects. Recently I was at the Grolsch Swingtop Circle hosted at the Grandaddy Hotel. It was amazing to hear the success stories from one of the owners of the Hotel, Jody Aufrichtig, who moved back from London to start the Daddy Long Legs Group. They continually tap into the local community to create original and beautiful ideas for overnight stays. Ravi Naidoo also spoke about the huge response he’s had building Design Indaba. Cape Town might also be a ‘lifestyle’ option, as my friends in Joburg love put it, but in my experience it has also been hugely supportive of creative business ventures.

Some other creative and proudly Cape Town Business ventures that are on twitter:

Jack Black
&Union
Design Indaba
Grand Daddy Hotel

*Name has been changed.