The Sublimer is a digital Magazine that tells the visual stories and conversations of the fashion influencer in design, lifestyle, film and culture. Telling the stories of the people who make, create and shape what we think is fashion. 

I'm Thomas Roos and together with my twin brother Martijn we form a team of traveling (wedding)photographers and filmmakers. My brother and I  have been coming to South-Africa for the past few years to enjoy the summer in Cape Town. 

We discovered the beauty of this place when we were studying and doing internships here, and fell in love with the city of Cape Town and the surroundings. Since then, we have been returning visitors during the European winters, when it's nice and warm here in South Africa. 

We both use our holidays to South Africa to get inspired, be creative and to relax from the work we do in Europe as photographers/videographers. We enjoy finding some time to do our projects without the pressure of deadlines and schedules.

For a long time, we've been craving to express our love for the rich and diverse African cultures in a way that's more than just words. Although we have been doing lots of shoots here, we never really got the chance to do something like this: a fashion-oriented shoot inside a township. Usually, it is being discouraged to walk around the townships with cameras, but Tony Maake, a friend from university that actually has his roots in the townships and speaks the language said he was willing to take us. 

Tony and his friends know the struggles of living in a township. They work hard to improve the life of the people in the township as they have been gifted the opportunity to study at university. Tony is actively involved with the education of township children as the founder of 'Tony's House Children Foundation'. By means of this shoot, we also want to raise awareness of the life in townships and communicate the vision of people like Tony with the world, through means that speak to the heart. Tony's foundation was born from desire to give children from the township a chance to excel, to grow, to learn, and to reach their full potential in life.

Tony has a strong will and is now a very talented student in the field of Biology at the university of Stellenbosch: ''It's not about where you come from, it's about where you're going'', he notes. ''Circumstances made me who I am.''

There was actually not much planning that went into this shoot, we basically asked Tony to take us inside the township and be our model at the same time. Then, he asked around among his friends and so, this shoot was born. No styling agency, no modelling agency, no make-up. Previously, we had seen Tony dress up in what he describes as the 'Black Gentleman' style. We asked him and his friends to dress in a similar fashion, and they rocked up with the best outfits imaginable!

Thomas Roos

photo credit: Martjin Roos

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