In the impoverished townships of Johannesburg, South Africa, photographer Frank Trimbos was surprised to find hundreds of young people crowding into community centers every day to study classical ballet. "They have big dreams," Trimbos said.

Photographer Gianmarco Panucci takes a look into the reality of the “coloured” communities of the Cape Flats, the townships of Cape Town. Here, the gangs of the coloured communities are constantly growing, especially as drug trafficking feeds diffusion and popularity of these illegal activities.

On June 17, 1990, four months after being released from his prison cell in South Africa, Nelson Mandela found himself in a portrait session with renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh. Mandela was one of 15,312 people photographed by Karsh during his career.

When South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord released the music video for their single “I Fink U Freeky,” the world watched. The visually stunning black-and-white video went viral because the man behind the camera had been perfecting his aesthetic for the past 10 years.

South African photographer Greg Marinovich spent years covering the rise of violence in his home country before the eventual death of the systemic racial discrimination policy of apartheid. During the transition to democracy, he found himself on the front lines of history.

Just before the official start of this year's carnival season, documentary photographer Charlie Shoemaker stumbled upon South Africa's annual "new New Year" festival on January 2. Lively, colorful participants with painted faces march through the streets of Cape Town, singing, dancing and playing instruments.