He is a journalist, photographer, filmmaker, and researcher specializing in content related to the LGBTIQ community across Africa. A former researcher at Human Rights Watch, Collison is the founder of the nonprofit publishing house and production company Beyond the Margins. He is also a co-founder of the Purple Mountain Arts Residency, which provides a safe space for African queer creatives, artists, and activists.
Collison was a Rainbow Fellow of the Other Foundation at the Mail & Guardian. In 2017, thanks to his journalism focused on the queer community, he represented South Africa as a participant in the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitors Leadership Program. He was selected for the 2018 Gerald Kraak Award and Anthology. He was also included in the inaugural #Awesome50 list, which recognizes the work done by people across Africa to improve the lives of LGBTIQ people on the continent. His short stories have been included in the essay collections They Called Me Queer and For The Love of the Land.
His documentaries (and photography exhibitions) have been screened at film festivals and events in Argentina, Kenya, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Mozambique, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In April 2023, he held his first international solo exhibition (featuring photographs, texts, and documentaries dedicated to the lives of queer people across Africa) at Western Oregon University.
In August 2023, the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice’s annual public event, “Economies of Violence,” focused on Collison and his multimedia exhibition, Islanded(No More), which he had curated over the past few years to document the life experiences of LGBTIQ+ people across Africa. The exhibition focused on the intersections between queerness and religious and traditional belief systems in various parts of Africa.