Lizane Louw is a South African multimedia journalist and photographer based in Berlin. Louw combines her love for travel and photography in her work and has worked internationally as a journalist and photographer for 16 years.
Travel, culture, and the environment are the main themes of Lizane's multimedia work. Louw's extensive photographic oeuvre focuses on climate change and the human condition.
My first love has always been photography. My dad bought me my first camera when I was 14. I am a self-taught photographer who accidentally landed in the world of photojournalism when I met the late Garth Stead, picture editor of Foto24/Die Burger, in Stellenbosch South Africa in 2007.
Garth had a significant influence on my career as a young photojournalist. With his guidance in shooting for daily publications and also the advice and support of Sharief Jaffer, the now-retired picture editor of Foto24/Media24, I continued pursuing a career in journalism.
Sharief is still a rock in my career. The experience I gained in the field under his guidance as a picture editor for almost four years, shaped my voice as a visual journalist.
In March 2009, the Hollywood film, Invictus, was filmed in Cape Town. I photographed the American actors, Matt Damon and Kyle Eastwood during filming. These famous actors played the parts of Francois Pienaar and Joel Stransky in the movie.
Invictus is a 2009 biographical sports drama. It was directed by Clint Eastwood and starred Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. The story is based on the book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation by John Carlin.
In September 2011, I was an official photographer of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s book launch, Tutu, The Authorized Portrait. I had the opportunity to photograph Bono, the lead singer of U2, at the Bishops’ birthday celebrations. I also photographed the Archbishop at the Russel Tribunal in Cape Town, September 2011.
I relocated to Asia in 2012. I completed a diploma in Multimedia Journalism at the Konrad Adenauer Asian Centre for Journalism, ACFJ, in 2014. I continued my educational journey with Ateneo and graduated with a Masters Degree in Journalism from Ateneo de Manila University, ACFJ, in June 2019.
During my time at Ateneo I developed a love for feature writing and environmental stories. This has since been the focus of the work I do.