Celebrating the Winners of Midlands Magic
The Midlands Magic Art and Photography Competition brought together incredible creative talent from across the region. From powerful photography to expressive artworks, each entry captured a unique perspective of the Midlands.
We are proud to announce and celebrate the official winners across all categories.
Photography Winners
Professional Photography
The Barrow Boys
The Barrow Boys documents the lives of informal labourers who transport heavy goods for vendors and traders in Durban’s early morning markets. Using steel hand-pushed barrows, they assist with offloading deliveries and moving items such as vegetables, groceries, and bulk supplies. Many are migrants from regions including Eastern Cape and Mthatha, while others come from within KwaZulu-Natal. Aged between 25 and 55, they often leave their families behind in search of income, with some residing near their workspaces, highlighting resilience, sacrifice, and the realities of urban survival.
MABUSI CEBEKHULU
Midmar VanGo
A different version of Midmar
MAUREEN HACKLAND
Amateur Photography
Enclosed
My safe space!
ALISTAIR HUNTER
Colliding colours
I found this butterfly near the rose tunnel on the farm and she was very weak. We spent a few moments together and then I gently placed her on a flower nearby. The beautiful colours caught my eye and I just had to capture it!!
MARELIE LEE
Morning has broken
The serenity of the early morning mist blanketing the rolling farmland in the Karkloof valley is surreal.
ALISTAIR HUNTER
Youth Photography
Embers On The Horizon
The sky looks like it’s on fire, like the sun doesn’t want to go away yet. Everything is really quiet, and the fields just sit there while the light slowly fades. The fence goes on forever, like it’s leading somewhere far away. It feels like the world is just pausing, waiting for night to take the light away.
OLIVER HILLERMANN
Hope Rising
As the first light breaks over the rolling hills of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, the world feels quietly reborn. Mist lifts, colours soften, and possibility returns. This sunrise is more than a moment - it's a reminder that no matter how heavy yesterday felt, light still comes. The Midlands holds this quiet magic: space to breathe, to begin again, to believe. Here, hope doesn't rush - it rises, steady and sure.
LEEDON HOGARTY
Art Winners
Professional Artist
Beyond The Hills
Beyond the Hills” is a quiet reflection on childhood, friendship, and the landscapes that shape us. The work depicts my son and his best friend many years ago, absorbed in play somewhere in the Midlands. It speaks to a friendship formed early, rooted in the Midlands, with its rivers, hills, and sense of space. The bond it portrays reaches beyond geography. The work considers how relationships born in a specific landscape can grow, endure, and carry their meaning far beyond the boundaries of place and time.
VINCE REID
This iconic view of Nhlazane was captured on the road to Curry's Post on one of out Midlands Meanders. The fleeting passage of light illuminated the summer grasses and led us through the landscape to the misty hills beyond. Like the impressionists, I too have a love affair with the challenge of capturing light and atmospheric effects. Our ever-changing cloudscapes weave their spell over our Midlandscapes. My hope is that this artwork captures something of that magic.
ALANNA DEALL
Howick falls
Acrylic on canvas....150 x 100cms Unframed
CHAR EASTMENT
Amateur Artist
Ardmore Afternoon
My daughters and I have loved taking trips from our Durban home to do the Meander, especially in the colder months when the colours changed. This oil on panel painting is a scene from a late afternoon stop at Ardmore, where the scenery was just as beautiful as the ceramics.
ELAINE BRADY
Wandering midlands river
A4 - Oilnon canvas A winding river scene near Howick
DIANA DREBOLDT
Poultry farm in the Midlands with the Drakensberg backing
A magic view taken from Cedara of a poultry farm with the Back of the Dragon in the distance.
CHRISTIANE VARNEY
Youth Artist
A Christmas Scene, St Andrews Church (Dargle)
A little iron and wood Church was opened in the Dargle on the 30th November 1883 by Bishop Macrorie. This structure was used until 1934, when a brick Church was built. Now home to a small but faithful congregation, where services are held biweekly under the guidance of the Anglican Diocese and Methodist Church. This scene was a representation of the Christmas Nativity held one Christmas Service at the St Andrews Church, Dargle.
KENDRA TONGUE
Soul eyes
I have always loved birds of prey. When we moved to the midlands I have been so close to all the animals and birds which I adore. We live surrounded by indigenous forest where i love hearing and seeing the owls.
CEINWEN DOSSON
Two Skies, One Midlands 1
What does the Midlands look like at golden hour? What about beneath a canopy of stars? These two watercolours answer both questions at once. Woven together as an agamograph, the paintings shift between a glowing sunset and a luminous night sky — a landscape loved and lived in, now captured through the eyes of young artists discovering the magic that was always there.
OLIVER HILLERMAN
A Celebration of Creativity
Every participant helped bring the spirit of the Midlands to life through their creativity, perspective, and storytelling. The judges were inspired by the quality and diversity of entries received across all categories.
To all our winners, finalists, and entrants, thank you for being part of Midlands Magic.
