Positioning Liezl Zwarts for Paris Photo
A photographer’s career rarely moves in a straight line. It expands in unexpected directions, shaped by timing, opportunity, and the willingness to pivot. For Cape Town–based photographer Liezl Zwarts, that pivot arrived with Hope Is a Whisper, her first international solo exhibition at Lilia Ben Salah Gallery, ahead of Paris Photo last fall.
Known for her intimate portraiture and commercial collaborations with brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, and H&M, Liezl had long balanced commissioned work with deeply personal projects. Hope Is a Whisper marked a culmination of ten years of photographing women, an exploration of resilience, vulnerability, and strength. Some of the prints were hand-stitched with gold beads, referencing the Japanese practice of repairing with gold, transforming fracture into brilliance.
The opportunity was significant. It was not only her first major international solo exhibition, but a chance to introduce her fine art practice to an entirely new market. There was just one constraint: we only had one month to prepare.
The Art of the Pivot
I had been working with Liezl through our Marketing Director service since July, with outreach primarily focused on commercial clients in New York as she prepared to return to the United States. This exhibition required both an immediate geographic pivot and a positional one. We weren’t simply introducing her to a different city; we were introducing her to a different audience, with a different expectation of who she was as an artist.
This is why our Marketing Director service can be extremely valuable to photographers. It functions as an embedded marketing assistant, building and managing outreach, email campaigns, and strategic communication on an ongoing basis. While it includes a structured monthly cadence, it’s designed to adapt to each photographer’s evolving needs. For Liezl, that meant temporarily shifting away from traditional commercial outreach and instead focusing our efforts on press engagement, targeted Paris contacts, and exhibition-driven visibility.
Building Presence in a New Market
Working within a compressed timeline, we built a targeted Paris contact list of approximately 200 individuals and organizations. This included galleries, curators, cultural publications, Paris Photo affiliates, agencies, and brands aligned with her aesthetic. We began with the gallery’s contact list and expanded it through independent research, sourcing direct emails and identifying LinkedIn connections that could provide warm introductions where possible.
Press outreach was broad but intentional, spanning photography, art, fashion, and Paris-based cultural publications. At the same time, we activated Liezl’s existing audience of over 1,000 contacts through direct email campaigns, ensuring her established network was aware of the exhibition. A custom-designed digital invitation supported the outreach and unified the messaging.
Social strategy became another essential layer. We collaborated with her social media manager to refine exhibition language, incorporate behind-the-scenes storytelling, and plan both opening-night documentation and post-show content. Wonderful Machine amplified the event through its own channels, resulting in a noticeable increase in traffic to Liezl’s profile during the exhibition window.
International Press & Lasting Visibility
The response exceeded expectations, with a very successful opening night and significant press coverage. Publications described her work as transforming imperfection into strength, praising her ability to turn commercial discipline into deeply personal artistic expression. The coverage not only validated the exhibition internationally but also positioned her firmly within the fine art conversation.
“Zwarts illuminates the scars of the past, acknowledging rather than hiding them, turning imperfection into a glittering gold line synonymous with strength… incorporating this idea as a reminder to those who feel they are at the edge of despair, delivering them a message through art.”
“Her work, as soft as it is powerful, whispers a universal truth: hope never disappears. Liezl Zwarts joins a generation of artists who are revisiting the nude… The spectator is invited to slow down, to let themselves be enveloped by the slowness and gentleness of the process.”
“The commercial world demands precision and flawless execution. Now those skills are being turned inward, serving a profoundly personal artistic vision… It’s a compelling reminder that the best art often emerges from our deepest pain, and the skills honed in the commercial world can be the foundation for true fine art brilliance.”
“Through her lens, Zwarts photographs women whose cracks reveal strength, turning fragility into testimony and imperfection into brilliance. The exhibition marks a significant moment in Zwarts’ evolving fine art career… Reimaging the boundaries between vulnerability and strength through her nuanced interpretation of the nude figure.”
The App Whisperer “Hope Is A Whisper: Solo Show by Liezl Zwarts” By Joanne Carter | November 2025
Following the show, she expanded this momentum by leveraging Wonderful Machine’s SEO services to ensure those press mentions continued strengthening her digital presence. We created a dedicated press page on her website so that coverage would live beyond the exhibition dates, strengthening both credibility and long-term search visibility.
A Defining Moment
The most significant result, however, wasn’t attendance or press. It was clarity. Through the process of preparing, positioning, and presenting Hope Is a Whisper internationally, Liezl recognized that she wanted to pursue fine art full-time. The exhibition became more than a milestone; it became a turning point.
That is the role of a Marketing Director. Not simply to promote a project, but to help a photographer navigate pivotal moments with strategy, structure, and long-term thinking. In Liezl’s case, one month of focused, intentional direction helped transform an exhibition into the beginning of a new chapter.v
This article was originally published on Wonderful Machine.
