Photography & Production Assistant — Cape Town
An assistant role for someone early on who wants to learn property and commercial work properly. You will carry, set, style, wrangle cards and reset rooms — and in between you will be shown how the frame was chosen, why the flash went there, and what the client will judge the delivery on.
Days are on location across the city, usually one or two shoots per day. We expect punctuality, care with other people's homes, and questions.
It is a paid assistant position with a genuine path into shooting your own briefs once your work is consistent.
Working in Cape Town
Cape Town is our home base — the studio address is in Melkbosstrand and most weeks run across the Atlantic Seaboard, the City Bowl and the Southern Suburbs. The work is seasonal in shape: summer brings international buyers, hospitality campaigns and estate launches, while winter shifts toward interiors, corporate portraits and studio-side production. Crew here need to be comfortable with wind, fast-changing coastal light and tight street parking outside Sea Point and Bo-Kaap addresses.
Where the work happens: Sea Point, Camps Bay, Clifton, Constantia, Bishopscourt, Hout Bay, Green Point, the V&A Waterfront, Woodstock, Somerset West and out to Melkbosstrand and Bloubergstrand.
What you'll do
- Load, carry and set lighting, stands, tripods and gimbal kit
- Style and tidy rooms before a frame and reset them afterwards
- Wrangle cards, run backups on the day and label deliverables
- Hold reflectors, run second-camera stills and log shot lists
- Keep the kit inventory correct at the end of every day
What you need
- Genuine interest in photography or film, with study or personal work to show
- Punctual, presentable and respectful in clients' homes and premises
- Physically able to carry kit through a full shoot day
- Own transport or reliable, dependable travel to call times
- Willing to be taught and corrected on the day
Nice to have
- Own camera body, even an entry-level one
- Lightroom basics
- Valid driver's licence
What we offer
- Paid assistant days — not unpaid exposure
- Direct mentoring on lighting, composition and client handling
- A credited personal portfolio built from real client shoots
- First option on junior shooting briefs as you progress
How to apply
Send a link to your reel or portfolio, your city, your kit list, and one line on why this role. No cover letter needed. Coleman Gellatly reads every application and replies inside two working days.