A photographer drawn to design.
I am Chris de Winnaar, a Johannesburg-based photographer and filmmaker working on location across South Africa and available for international commissions. I have been taking photographs for approximately ten years, and my connection to design began much closer to home.
My wife, Ashley, is a designer. Through her, I began seeing spaces differently — not simply as rooms or buildings, but as the result of hundreds of considered decisions. I became fascinated by light, composition, material, proportion and atmosphere, and by the way people experience a finished space.
That influence became the foundation of Winner & Mash. The name is personal: Winner comes from my surname, and Mash is the name I call Ashley — my Ash.
Today, Winner & Mash brings those two worlds together: my experience behind the camera and the appreciation for design that Ashley helped me discover.
I work with architects, interior designers and design-led brands to create considered photography and film that communicates not only how a space looks, but how it was intended to feel.
My approach is collaborative and measured. I take time to understand the design intent, the defining details and the people behind each project, then build a clear visual story through light, composition and honest observation.