CHAPTER : Issue 2

Peace and Blessing be with you.

 

Issue 2

For Sale in the US, UK and Canada. 

http://magcloud.com/browse/Issue/35757

Watch this space for new publishing projects!

 

Salaam

 

Yasser 

 

Bo-Kaap

Peace and Blessings be with you.

Growing up in a community where everyone knows who you are because they can figure out who your parents are by looking at you has its perks. It also has its disadvantages, especially for naughty little boys stealing the locks off people’s letter boxes just because we figured out how to do it with hair clips!

Behind the flats in Astania street

The Bo-Kaap, literally ” above Cape” is a special place. It is a place where kids still play in the streets, and do things kids are supposed to do, climb trees, throw stones and play with sticks.

Walking down Pentz street to Moslem school.

Salaam.
Yasser

Home.

 

Peace and Blessings be with you.

 

I have arrived. It is good to be home. I am excited to get reconnected. 

 

Alexandria township 2002...

 this image was taken during the demonstration against the World Summit for Sustainable Development when 12 thousand people marched from Alexandria to Sandton in Johannesburg.

Perhaps this is setting the tone for my return.

Salaam

 

Yasser

Sneak preview.

Peace and Blessing be with you.

I wanted to give a sneak preview to CHAPTER, the magazine i have been working on the last weeks.

I shall endeavor to make it available in some form in Cape Town , and South Africa.

Pages 3 and 4...

looking forward to hear some feedback.

Salaam

Yasser

Cape Town on my mind.

Peace and Blessings be with you.

 

On the train to New Crossroads...

The feeling that its okay to crack a joke with a complete stranger on a train is a Cape Town, okay, maybe not cracking a joke, but for certain when the rest of the people on the carriage laughs, you know you’re in the  mother city.

I took this shot on the train to Nyanga junction. I had to find kids in the ghettos playing soccer for a dutch NGO, so i enlisted the aid of an artist friend who lived in the area. By the time we eventually left the city it was “Tchaaila” (going home) time, and the trains were packed with commuters on their way home. About 40 mins after this picture I greeted a gangster on the corner, 7 mins after that I heard gunshots, and the sounds of mothers frantically calling their children, and 6 mins after that we walked past the same man I greeted lying in a puddle of blood. 30 meters down the road kids continued playing as if nothing happened. What was scarier, the shooting, or the kids …

Did i take my camera out? no .

Severe contrasts besets the beautiful place I call home, danger, crime but also humour, laughter, and hope.

Salaam 

Yasser

Ladies and Gentlemen…Funafuji on the decks!

Peace and Blessings be with you.

No pictures today. That is a first.

On offer today….

Cape Town resident, Medical student, Dubstep  controller and amazing human being….

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mwzmjjjmlwu

sink your teeth into this.

Salaam.

 

Yasser

“the law,the law, what are all these laws for…”

Peace and Blessings be with you.

The title of this post comes from a song in a play written in South Africa in the middle of the 80’s by Talieb Pietersen (who is no longer with us) and David Kramer called ‘District 6′

District 6 , from which the new South African / Hollywood Blockbuster  movie ‘District 9′ is rumored to take some inspiration from , is an area just on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town. It is an area from which 60000 people were forcefully removed during the ‘rezoning’ of the area to a ‘white area’ under the Apartheid system. The play was a spectacular success internationally and eventually made its rounds in South Africa itself. 

Why do I mention this play, the song, these words? Because this is what i am think about after having read 2 pieces in the Mail & Guardian, one about a beggar being beating in the hallowed halls of consumerism ( Arab owned V&A waterfront ) without anyone doing any thing, and another pertinent piece called ” our house is on fire” by MAMPHELA RAMPHELE, where she assesses the “me myself and i first philosophy ” that is ravaging our country from within.

I have one image for today…

 

have we become a people who put faith in lip service and posturing...

Salaam

Yasser

Recording

Peace and Blessings be with you .

 

Caledon Square

Caledon Square

This was the image that started the train of thought, the wall outside the back of the police station in Cape Town. I wondered if objects retain memory traces of things, people, events? would it not be fascinating to access this ‘history’. All the marches that took place outside this building, all the political prisoners dropped off here, removed from here. The memory of those who were inside at the same time, those who would jail, oppress, enforce apartheid.

I would like to ask the question : what are we doing with that history?  does it have relevance in a world where rent,home loans, school fees, taxes keep us so busy that we don’t have time to look back?

 

One of the reasons I kept doing photography is to help me remember in fact, that I found a way to look at the way i look at people, and therefore myself. Even with the information that we have, i.e our own history, we do not always consult the stores we as individuals have to assist us in  making decisions for the future, how much more difficult for a nation to do this?

 

Zurich 2003

 A recording as it were of myself on a pavement that does in fact hold history, information for blind people. 

 

Salaam

Yasser

Is the mist obscuring the way or are the lights showing the way?

Peace and Blessing be with you.

I found this image scrounging through my files thinking that i need to upload at least one image today.

 

M3 in the mist...

I think this is one of those half glass questions, is it half filled or half empty? Or is it?

Salaam.

Yasser

Snoek.

Peace and blessings be with you.

The closest European version of the snoek I was told is the Barracuda or the Sturgeon, one or both of the aforementioned may be incorrect, so if any one has better sauces (  than for example apricot jam , garlic and butter, chilli powder, pepper corns and salt when one is putting one of these beauties and let me assure you of their beauty sir/madam , onto a grill over a bed of red hot coals!) of information, please enlighten the readership…, and writership of this here blogg.

 

FFFRRRRESSSHHHHH!

Its quite i picturesque little harbour Kalk Bay is, and a must visit for any one traveling to Cape Town, for that matter , for people living in Cape Town.

 

Storm clouds in the distance.

 

 

It is conveniently situated on the trainline from the City to Simons Town (I should be getting a kick back from Cape Town Tourism, or Metrorail at least !). So parents wanting a good days outing with the youngsters, a romantic train ride next to the sea, or a solo head clearing journey all fall within the ambit of “i am taking the train to Kalk bay now, and may be back with SNOEK” .

Salaams

Yasser

MAYHEW MUSIC!

Peace and Blessings be with you.

Every once in a while I find myself in the right place at the right time. In this instance it was in the back of Rupert’s Garden, and the request of a friend, who wanted me to come to an unplugged music garden party in Edinburgh. This is where I stumbled across a host of very talented musicians, Mayhew Music being one of the bands that i actually went up to to get contact details from.

 

at the tron...

Cathy and the boys, unassuming and humble the lot of them excitedly told me where their next gig was, so that i could come and photograph them, never mind see them perform for free once again! i have a feeling that not far n the future one would have to pay serious cash to see these guys live!!

 

"Brought the room to a quiet standstill.... compelling" the Scotsman

So off i go to the Tron on the Royal Mile to be transported , and yes, take a few photos.

 

Cathy in the lights...

Speaking to the band I realise very quickly that it was beautiful “coincidence”  that brought all the members together, involving ” a hostel, a debut open mike and impulsive street recruiting” .

It makes total sense that this music comes from beyond a conscious decision of the ‘ lets start a band’ approach, and proceeds to make its way  to us from the unseen of our collective destinies.

so without any further ado, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…..MAYHEW!!

http://www.myspace.com/mayhewmusic

Salaam 

Yasser

Time and how it moves.

Peace and blessings be with you.

Time, and its passage is something that mankind has been thinking about for as long as mankind had the ability to think.

To many, in fact most of us its passage as a substance, matrix or energy cannot be seen, though we are able to glimpse “evidence’ of its existence.

One of the ways of tracings its passage is in movement.

 

without moving...

Another way, which is much more endearing and somehow scary at the same time is babies, and how quickly they grow, and by extension how quickly we age. 

 

Anisa Rose Park...

There are people who claim that like photons, or packages of energy exist, so to do packages of time that spontaneously manifest with its momentary atomic ‘existence’, ie. everything exactly the “same” as a millionth of a split second before to give our perception the illusion of continuity…

 

Now the  purpose for this open ended venture after the trail of time is because of its ever diminishing presence and therefore the urgency for the second CHAPTER  to be uploaded! this will happen soon, as it has already started.
Salaam

Yasser

Making South Africa Proud At the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!

Peace and  Blessings

In the plethora of events, performances, music gigs comedy acts that is the Edinburgh Fringe Festival it is only to easy to let lost. If I was lost, then I was found, in the form of an electric performance put on by the Memeza Africa last night.

 

electrifying the crowd...

Memeza Africa is the product of a South African and Canadian collaboration that was formed in 2005 when Holly Wright, a Canadian doing training workshops for Sasol decided to rerecord a track she had written a few years before with a distinctive South African sound. She met up with Jimmy Mulovhedzi who was at the time the head of a choir group consisting of locals from Soweto, and the rest , as they say is history.

Memeza Africa performed the track at The World Aids Day celebrations in Kwazulu Natal. At the celebration they met with a Canadian HIV NGO , EDZIMKULU, who invited them to Canada to perform at a fundraiser for the organisation in Edmonton in 2008.

Jimmy and Holly striking all the wright notes

 

Now Memeza Africa find themselves at the biggest performing arts festival in the world, enlightening audiences with their overwhelming energy and joy.

 

Engaging the audience...

Without the any of the edgy cerebral attributes that inspire contemporary critics to haul out their tertiary educated cognitive arsenal, Memeza Africa powers through the insubstantial boundaries of nationality, language and culture to strike at the heart. Launching a full assault in the universal language of joy and  humility,  and the simple pleasure of listening to beauty in the form of the human voice.

 

What they have to offer to people who traveled from all over the world in one short hour, reminds me intensely of that which makes South Africa a beacon in the world, her pride, her people.

 

posing with a Japanese audience member after the gig...

Salaam

Yasser

Rockness anybody?

Peace and Blessings be with you.

I am curios to find out if there are people  out there who have heard of the Rockness music festival? It would take me more time than i currently have to make a fairly decent representation of the 3 day mega-music festival that featured bands like Prodigy and Basement Jax, yes thats right, Live!!

This will also be the first time that I am  putting a sequence on the blog, I think you will see the reason.

 

Going...

 

Going...

 

Gone...

as am I.

Salaam

Yasser

Neist point continued

Peace and Blessings be with you.

We had a picnic on the beach, and were entertained by a giant seal resting watchfully in a little bay not far off.

 

This could be Camps Bay ...

and then of course the Actual Lighthouse, which from the looks of things, together with the adjoining cottages were converted to holiday accommodation units, which meant that the whole complex was off limits to the general public.

 

Neist Point Lighthouse

 

Salaam.

 

 Yasser

Revisiting Cawdor Estate

 

Peace and blessings be with you.

 

teddy in the cupboard..

Perfectly logical, right next to the bed, *****  was kind enough to let us use her room during our stay.

 

Fish are jumping and the weather is fine...

The walks are pretty spectacular too, though not without its perils! 

 

Caution..the road is wet...

Eventually you get to the top.

 

Yes, a river runs through it...

 

Then on to Skye, and Neist Point.

 

To the lighthouse...

 

Salaam

Yasser

Aldeburgh

Peace and Blessings be with you.

With all the excitement about CHAPTER starting to tick over there seems to be more time to concentrate on the blog, theoretically at least. In reality i am still 2 months behind on the blog, and now we find ourselves back in Suffolk. 

 

Cottage by the sea...

And typical to a lovely seaside village, it is not hard to spot the couples on a romantic outing .

 

romance on the beach...

and neither is it hard to spot the tourists.

 

tourists...

and last but not least, the delicious fish cannot be forgotten. The boat coming onto the beach below is was the one that caught a cod that made a superb dinner that evening.

 

They actually use a winch to draw the boat up across the pebble beach along runners...

Salaam.

 

 Yasser

‘CHAPTER’ Launches today!!!

Peace and Blessings be with you .

I am very happy to announce the publication of ‘CHAPTER’ . Officially today is the first day that it being ‘live’ . The website responsible for production and distribution is based in California, and as yet they are only posting to the U.S, U.K and Canada, but we are hoping that they will extend their distribution network.

 

Issue 1...

http://mierkat.magcloud.com/  is the link to send to all your contacts in the above 3 countries when you tell them about the new magazine from Africa that they MUST have!

Thanks and Praise, as ever, is due to the Maker of atoms, The Fashioner of Love. I must recognise the support of my wife and her family for enduring my long anti social hours at the Mac, Thank you Precious Heart. To my family for their endurance in dealing with me I owe a debt that I doubt I can ever repay,especially my mother, thanks Ma!
To all the people who make the mission to come to this blog, turn up at my exhibitions, show their support and encourage, thank you!

I shall soon be starting to work in ernest on the second issue, all feedback appreciated, no welcome!!!

I sold the first one to one of my earliest friends, you know who  you are bru, thanks!!!

Salaam.

 

Yasser

Along the boardwalk and beyond.

Peace and Blessings be with you.

On this particular day, which happened to be the 9 May, which is more than a month and a half  ago, we went for another walk past the Snape Maltings,built originally to make beer, they fell into disuse in the 60’s , were rebuilt and later became famous as a venue for classical concerts, under the influence of English composer Benjamin Britten. It also houses many of the concerts for the Aldeburgh Music Festival.

Like i said, this particular day over a month and a half ago, we walked straight past the Maltings to the stretch of marshland beyond.

 

Into the Marshland...

The amazing variety of songbirds in England never cease to amaze me, it could perhaps be that back home I am not the most attentive person when it comes to the spontaneous eruption of the mellifluous avian type, but i most certainly notice it on this side of the equator. The” Sky Lark ” for example, a most extraordinary bird that hovers in same position high above the ground, singing its heart out. This must be my favourite. 

 

Dead but not forgotten...

There are a number of dead trees that dot the landscape from the vantage point of the boardwalk. Gnarled and partially blackened they resemble in instances human limbs,and the word upheaval comes to mind.

 

Vikings in the bay...

Or thats what i thought at first glance, in fact this area is not a stranger to the nordic raiders. 

 

MIssing a "C

 Or at least i hope so!! Again we were blessed with weather that I would more expect from a South African than English summer, but hey, there you go! Ending of with what i thought was really impressive, this Aunty, at the Maltings with her 35mm camera, at least 85 yrs old, still firing away on film. 

 

Still going strong...

Salaam.

Yasser

A new home for my canvas print

Peace and Blessings be with you.

One of the canvasses from the exhibition in Cape Town has travelled all the way from there to Suffolk with our help to end up here…

 

Mozambique in Snape...

Creativity, inspiration I think begins with the decision to be Creative, inspired, being open to it. In our age, these terms most often are associated with artists or people in the “creative” industries, though in fact these perceptions have been consciously informed. Who says for example that a mother of 3 is not creative, or inspired in the way she deals with the day to day running or the family life? the casting of creativity as a resource into the form that only allows access, permission to “creatives” needs to be deconstructed in a very conscious way. Again, individually this too begins with a decision.You my be interested to know why this “topic”? My wife received a tiny box of paints from her cousin, and i was surprised to find myself  gleefully attacking the blocks of a newspaper crossword puzzle in all colours of the “RAinbow nation”

life is like a painting and you have the box of colours...

Salaam

 

 Yasser

Snape surrounds

Peace and blessings be with you .

I have completed my “secret ” project and now find myself for the first time in a while able to attend to this blog!! It would, I think be unfair to start uploading images from where I am at the moment, which is Edinburgh, to those who are following the “story” not to mention the travel sickness  that will cause by moving backward and forward in time, so i shall start from where i left off, which is more that a month ago. when we were still in Snape…

 

the best way to remember the names of places you've been to.

On this particular day we went for a walk to the Snape Maltings.

 

From the bridge...

 

the coat of arms...

 

Suburban reflection...

 

bacon, before the supermarket ...

The local pig farm, actually, its a fairly new arrival to the village of Snape, as the local farmer who owns the land , rented it to a pig farmer  only 3 or so years ago.

so I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and say goodbye for now.

 

Salaam

 Yasser

Thank you for your patience

Peace and blessings be with you.

I would like to thank all who have been checking the blog over the last few weeks. I must apologise for my absence, and at the same time let you in on a little secret…. i have been plodding away on an online magazine… it shall al be revealed insha Allah!

In the meanwhile, it would not feel right to post a blog without any picture, so….heres scotland in the summer believe it or not…

Cawdor estate...

Salaam 

Yasser

Cycling through the countryside in Suffolk

Peace and Blessings be with you.

 

 

bright yellow fields...

 

country lane...

Spring sprung...

 

a kiddies birthday party at the destination...

Jason and the organic lamb...

Now in South Africa we pride ourselves on being unabashed carnivores, but i have never seen lamb put over the coals on a spit like this. From the results, i would highly recommend it. The lamb is from Jason’s farm.

 

I keep on calling but i cant get through...

And more likely than not i will be trying a very long time.I think Mr. Brown and possibly the entire cabinet has their hands full, not to mention the speaker… after the major expenses scandal that has claimed at least one minister thus far, and turned the public opinion against parliament, not to mention the devastation of trust in the ultimate authority of the United Kingdom. Do you suppose that the vehemence of the unveiling and call to accountability from the public is an outlet for the many, many , many bankers whose actions are  responsible for the “credit crunch” and got off scot free, and in some cases are still looking forward to big bonuses for failed, no disastrous policies? If my understanding is correct, then the banks in England are Nationalized, which means that the suffering public are in fact paying bonuses to the very people responsible for a lot of them being jobless, and in some cases homeless….

oh well , back to the beautiful countryside…

 

 

Idyllic isn't it?

 

welcome to the countryside...

snoopy...

Interestingly enough, snoopy was one of the daily cartoons i used to look forward to in the newspaper of my father or grandfather. In the context of a small english country town, it reminded me of all the english soldiers still in Iraq. What percentage of the Army needs to be in Iraq before England becomes a nation “at war”? 

Salaam

yasser

The Suffolk coast

 

Peace and Blessings be with you.

Dunwich Cliffs

Close to the edge...

Aldeburough beach

Also a place to get fresh Cod, straight out of the sea and literally off the boat. The fisherman we bought the Cod from has been Fishing for 28 years. Surprisingly  his father was a plumber, he had taken up fishing after school with his mates, and naturally his passion became his livelihood. one of th lucky ones!

Cloud, sky sea and beach…

Not exactly white sand, but quite lovely to snooze on…

lollipop…

Sizewell pebble bed nuclear reactor

It has an Area51 , Rosswell  sound to it no? if you go close enough, you can toast bread , microwave cold coffee etc!:) 

H20 inlet and outlet…

Salaam

 Yasser

Great Glemham House, Suffolk

Peace and Blessings be with you .

The day after the wedding we took the opportunity to go for a walk around the grounds of Great Glemham House.

The story bench...

This image i call the story bench for 2 reasons, firstly this is where i picture children sitting around their grandmother while she reads to them and secondly, itself is wrapped in the magical light that one finds in stories .

 

Tulips...

Have you ever considered what it must be like to see in the spectrums of bees or butterflies? To think that the entirety of the beautiful rich red, the texture of the petals, the shape of the stalk, the patterning of the display, and the time of its blooming was all contained in the seed, brings to mind  ”reality programming ” to  the infinite order. This is Creation.

 

Forget me nots...

Again, this “Brand” of “programming” has no limitations with regards to the amount of intricacy incorporated into the available “space”… it is an interface of complexity upon complexity, a subtle coordination of moment and “stuff”.

 

Suffolk showing off...

 

The wall around the vegetable garden...

 

Salaam 

Yasser

Wedding bells were ringing…

 

Peace and Blessings be with you.

 

the invitation...

 

 That we were arriving was a given, when we arriving was to a large extent decided by the wedding of Nel and Sam, which meant that we arrived in the UK, and the English country side in Spring!

 

the coffee to get the day going...

The morning of the wedding had finally arrived, like every other day though, the ritual coffee precedes any serious cognitive activities requiring higher mental faculties, like conversation for example!

Algy...

Algy finishing the last few lyrics of the wedding song he will be performing in the evening, this happened after coffee. 

 

the church...

We had arrived at the church on time, which was to say about half  an hour early.

 

Everybody else arriving at the church...

 The service was well timed, not being to long or short, that is to say long enough to get all the essentials done plus a flourish of beautiful musical performances and  poetry readings, and short enough so that all the children would get close to the end of the time that they could actually sit quietly just as the proceedings were done.

 

Newlywed...

Nel and Sam leaving the church in a rather interesting Land Rover.

 

farewell for now...

On to the reception!

Algy’s song, performed with gusto, and getting everyone to join in!

 

the fire outside...

did i mention that the reception took place on the farm of Nel’s parents?

and the conversation around the fire .

All in all , a beautiful day was had, with many new and wonderful people met, and remembered. Thank  you for the invitation !!

Salaam

 

Yasser

Snape, Suffolk…

Peace and Blessings be with you.

Just so you have an idea why I am feeling well rested and Nourished, not to mention content I am going to well… you’ll see.

The Beautiful home...

 

The Fresh air...

Park off...

 

Next door...

 

Shooting leaves in a bucket...

Beautiful light...

 

The AGA...

The recipe...

 

The Result...

 

Salaam

 

Yasser

Day 2 in hind-sight

Peace and Blessings be with you.

 

I have an obligation to take care of…
This is for everybody in Cape Town on the 9^th May 2009.  Weeam is performing, and she’s not alone…. !!  So if you are in the Mother City, go!!! , not only will you be supporting her, but you’ll be attending an event that will go down in history!!! 

The gig NOT to miss!!

check out www.shamanic.co.za for more details about Weaam and Nafia’s production company in Cape  Town…

Otherwise… a day of portraits , people and political protests about rightly sums up this particular day, if not necessarily in the correct order, which happened to be last week and Wednesday. Right now I am nestled in the incredibly beautiful English countryside in Suffolk, sitting in the bay windows of a beautiful old family house in Snape, but more about that when I get to it, which to my calculations could be next week sometime. 

coffee around the corner from Newington Green

The day started off with good friends and a cup of coffee around the corner from Newington green, at a very interesting venue that I would like to revisit. The building is occupied b a variety of artists, with a coffee shop venue beneath, perfect!

 

London Bus...

which is what we did next, to Liverpool Str. Station . I only realised when I had a look at this photo again that the Driver of this particular bus had a beard bested only by Santa Claus , and that yes, he was Muslim. This made me think about the complex realities underlying the “us & them “  rhetoric of the stereotype constructing machinery, especially in countries where the lines between “us & them” blur, as it does in the United Kingdom.

Abdul...

I had a preconception that people in big bustling cities are not necessarily friendly, and I am glad that at least in this instance I proved myself wrong. We ended up sitting opposite each other, I motioned to him if it was okay to take a picture, and he motioned back, so I did. 

Liverpool Street Station

At this stage I am sure there are more than a few South Africans recollecting stories, or remembering good food joints close to this tube station or that train station. 

The Underground...

Did you know that (like the chappies bubblegum wrapper starts) , work for the London Underground started in 1863???  It is quite a daunting thought is it not, being 4 stories under the surface, and then having buildings going up another ten at the same time? 

Subterranean by design...

How much time, how many hours, or what percent of our time in a day do we have to spend in one or another of the tube stations before we are classified subterranean? 

Credit Crunched...

2 minutes walk from  Tottenham Court  Rd tube station, just after Jessop’s (the camera/photography people) we encountered our first evidence of the “credit crunch” in the form of this business whose windows were covered with news paper from the inside. I wonder if the person who did this saw the article on the paper stuck to the front door? the title of the article reads “Britain cannot afford to throw money at crisis”

The Arab Press Center...

One of the buildings we passed was the Arab Press Center , most of the building is covered in mirrors, which makes for interesting images.

Time-out...

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the city on a spring afternoon one can find a beautiful place to rest against a tree. 

Outside St. Martins Church....

“Stop rape, mass murder and occupation” is what the entire banner reads.  a group of people had gathered on the stairs of St. Martin’s Church at Trafalgar Square to show support for the people of Haiti and Sri Lanka.

some of the people gathered there had been protesting for a long time…

 

Riga from Tibet...

Riga’s been in the UK for 36years, that’s 3 years longer than I have thus far lived. A kindly enough woman who got into trouble with one of the Sri Lankan protesters because she had a small board pointing out the fact that the Sri Lankan Government are Buddhists.

The aim of the day...

eventually we managed to reach the National portrait Gallery. Then we relaxed for a little on Trafalgar Square with the ever watchful Nelson, that sign of the Great British Empire standing vigil.

 

Admiral Nelson i presume...

and so ends Day 2 in hindsight.

 

Salaam

 

Yasser

Europe!!

Peace and blessings be with you.

DAY 1 . 

 

from the landing...

 

I find it amazing how even the light here is English , European, there is a visual  sensibility, with all its

cues that tells me that Dorothy is no longer in Kansas.

 

from the landing...

 

on our way to Highbury Islington...

closer to highbury islington ...

 

somewhere in east London....

 

a wall, and in the background if you're lucky you can see k and fi...

 

spring !!

bluebells.... i'm not allowed to say where this magical place is.

and now for departure…

elbow grease...

 

All Praise and All Gratitude is due to the ever Immanent Source of Momentary existence. Thanks is due to everybody who helped, everybody who attended, and everybody who purchased work!!! A special thanks to Miriam and Lebo from Cape Africa Platform !!!

 

preliminary...

 

a lot of energy went into putting the exhibition and it seems almost a pity that all the work had to come down after 4 days, though this is the way it meant to be, so I am satisfied, no, happy that now I can look forward to boarding

 

 

Mustapha And Abdul Lateef

 Then there are the gentlemen without whom there would only be pictures on the floor of the space!! Ameen Habib, Mustapha and Abdul Lateef!!

And then finally things started taking shape .

 

Recycled paper prints...

This time around i wanted to make sure that everyone could take something away with them as it were , so i designed some posters with this blog address on them , might as well get some promotion no?

 

posters...

part of one wall...

 

 

 

 

 

part of the opposite wall

 Now I can look forward to boarding an Airplane with my wife on Sunday destined for the shores of the United Kingdom!

 

Salaam

 

Yasser.

beginning again…?

 

Peace and Blessing be with you.

the whole picture...

I want to start this post with a quote i got off a friends site…

“whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!” – Goethe.

Thank you for that Ayyub!! To say that the last few days have been eventful would be an understatement of note! To be nakedly honest there were at least 3 occasions where my wife managed to convince me that i should not just throw up my hands and call it quits . Thank you peanut !!! 

If my maths is (or is that are?) correct  , then we are now on day (at least ) 9 since the “lets have a photo exhibition”  idea became a “reality” . no money to speak of, no money to speak of , did i mention that i did not have a cent in my pocket? 

I am a very grateful man … and i would like o thank everyone for their support and good energy. I need to thank The Burgess brothers from fine art framers in dorp street cape town, they came in at the moment just after the last one, and decided to help out with the framing and block mounting of more than half of the images. To Henry Ludsky  of Cape Africa Media, who printed my work at personal cost to himself , to Cyril ,who stayed late laying out my prints , To Mirjam and Lebo from the Cape Africa Platform for conspiring with Providence to provide a space for this exhibition, and of course my Incredible Wife, for changin my mind when she needed to, for oushing through exhaustion to help and support . Alghamdulillah wa Shukrillah!

Now the photo above …. you remember the days of film? 8 out of 10 times my best shot would be my first one, and ten out of ten times it would resemble the one above! the beginning of the light sensitive chemicals on the negative…. its a habit i could not shake, grew to love, from the days where every frame counts. i  would like to do a book one day and call it “firsts” . so anyone out there interested , get your people to speak to my people.  Why the photo above ?

The edge of consciousness in a way is what it  represents in my mind, the beginning of recognition, the start of the act of realising… pick one that feels good to you.

 

Salaam

 

Yasser

 

its happening!!!

Peace and Blessings be with you .

i would like to invite you to an exhibition….

see you there...

Please spread this around

 

salaams 

 

 yasser

To exhibit or not to exhibit…

 Peace and Blessings be with you.

Did someone  ask a question ..? 

The last week has indeed been an interesting one. I have made a decision to hold an exhibition. It will be my first solo exhibition in 7 years. People have come to the fore to extend a helping hand ,and to them I am very grateful.

for the record...

From the idea of an exhibition to this moment about 1 week has passed, and from this moment to opening night 8 days remain . Taking into account 2 public holidays and a weekend we subtract 4 and are left with an arithmetic sum that has the potentiality to be somewhat daunting, especially when image is yet to be put to paper viz. printed!

 

what do you see...

There are times in a mans life where the contextual “reality” forces him to look at himself, if only to take stock of what he is capable of…. and what he sees also has the potentiality to be daunting, though at this point , like the pregnant pause of silence before the panic induced by a calamity one has the opportunity to, in a manner of speaking detach, breathe, and decide….

 

 

what do you know...

though Providence renders the will of man useless when the unfolding of circumstance and the illusion of expectation don’t share the same path …

 

decide that the same Providence that Holds  aloft the gull, and Germinates the seed is a Benevolent , Bounteous  and Generous One .

 

 

Salaam

 

 Yasser 

 

 

 

 

wow!!..

Peace and Blessings be with you.

Today has been one of those days that i will look back at and smile because i had my camera.I am sure that Cape Town would rate in the top 5 for ” City with the most talented individuals per meter squared” competition.

jits and crossby...

Today i walked through a Cape Town that i had not seen for a very long time, a Cape town filled with music from one corner to the next, a Cape town with Capetonians clapping and cheering in the streets. i would like to THANK whoever was responsible!!?

 Jitsvinger ( www.myspace.com/jitsvinger) Crossby and Collin performing on Greenmarket Square  had people stopping  mid stride to take in the output. 

Crosby...

Collin on the Djembe...

 

Then, just around the corner we had the lovely Miss Lu Chase singing sultry soul to the midday crowds traversing  St. George’s mall.

Miss Lu Chase...

Check Lu out at ( www.facebook.com/people/Lu-Chase/648010946) 

Sorry Lu , i did not get the name of the Guitarist…. could you please send it to me?

Further  along St. George’s mall i heard the amazing sounds of “bodimo ba ngwao” from the North West province….

bodimo ba ngwao...

 the song and dance that they performed was of  Khoi San origin, the harmonies and the drum beat had the crowd enthralled.

closer...

As is my habit, I tend to , like most photographers moved from the wide to the closer shots, and got what i was looking for…

close enough?

By the time i had taken the above shot the song was coming to an end, with all the dancers moving in to a close huddle around me, me walking backwards snapping away, and eventually ending up on me bottom with about 70 people gathered around breaking into loud applause…and laughter!

wadi...

I never new that Xylophone bands existed. To be honest i never really much cared for them on the whole, but today I would say that my mind was changed. Wadi  together with his backing Xylophones surprised and impressed me…

Gazelle on the fly...

Finally i go the the bottom end of the mall , where it meets up with Thibault Square, and what was for me the most energetic performance of the day… enter Gazelle, the DJ Invisible and the Season Marimba Bang from Gug’s !!

 

 

Dj Invisible....

With Dj Invisible dropping the Electro Beats and  Gazelle working the crowd, Thibault Square was transformed to a lunch time party!

 

Gazelle...

And just incase you thought i threw the word energetic in the mix only because it sounded good…

 

Daasit nou! (there it is!)

 

walking on sunshine...

 

 

After the performance, i turned around and made my way back up St. George’s mall , thinking that all the music was done i was wonderfully surprised by a ,  and excuse my language a Kick Ass harmonica player who goes by the name of Dave Ferguson…

 

Dave and the deep down dirty blues...

Again , thanks for  the events today and yesterday, thanks for making Cape Town ring with audible smiles!

 

Salaam.

Yasser

MOBILISE…

Peace and Blessings be with you .

 

urban guerilla zurich

The above shot was taken in one of the “ghettos” in Zurich, at an artist exchange project i participated in thanks to the Swiss Arts Council (Pro Helvetia) . I put “ghetto’s” in inverted commas because it is not a universal concept, like many things , one mans prison is another mans oasis. 

27 days and counting by the Grace of The Maker. This is the time left before our departure for the UK, where I look forward to meet the family of my wife, and see the beautiful countryside  of Scotland.

27 days to organize a fundraising Forexhibition in the city and have canvas prints made to take with me.  27 days to make contact with , and submit proposals for exhibitions in the UK. Lots to do you say? Yes.

The time has come to mobilize!! Anyone out there who can assist in anyway, this is your chance to come to the front !

 

the calm before....

I have completely neglected to mention my THANKS to TBIRD, ALLISON & JABS for purchasing mierkat , 95 to go!!!  

the new Ray-Ban commercial...

Abduraghmaan was one of the participants of a training project in district 6 that we were part of a few years ago, as members of mopp (month of peoples  photography) . Myself and Abdul did a course in magasine production where Abdul Taught about visual literacy and design, and i focused on re-indoctrination , the process of migrating from the media ruminant to media originator.

 

sisters...

 To end todays post i thought this image of 3 sisters that i took on Baden Powell at the fish stand their father works at. Children are pure, we tarnish them by what we expose them to, or we nourish them by what we expose them to, of us and our environment.

 

Salaam.

Yasser

5years ago…

 

This is my work...

Peace and Blessings be with you.

 

On the 17^th  July 2004 Phillip and myself got a lift from his long time friend Mr. Brown from CID security, from  the Caltex petrol station in buitengracht street. He has been working there for 20 years when I took these photographs. 

I have been for the longest time wanting to do a series of stories on everyday South Africans who slip through the cracks of our notice, or fly below the Radar of our observation. Someone asked me one day why Phillip ? I ten realised that if there were some serum, substance that in my  mind, “made” or “defined” a “South African” i would go to Phillip with a syringe and extract it from his blood stream…

 

phillip and his wife..

In hindsight, I realised that e was not the Ideal “South African”, but   the Ideal Human being. I met him because I constantly visited the petrol station as it was the closest to my house in bo-kaap at the time. One evening I jokingly said to him that I would love to visit him, and see where he lived and without missing a beat he cracked a big smile and said that I was most welcome!

 

 

opening the spaza shop..

Time has caught up with me, so alas tis the end of my commentary, though i shall put up the last images, and if anyone would like some more information please leave a comment.

 

Ronald ... a neighbour..

All these images were shot with my beloved Yashika , hand held of course..

 

arriving at cape town station the next morning..

 So why Phillip…? Because Phillip put his son through varsity on a petrol attendant salary, plans the new year with his family as a team, after reviewing the last one, weighing up their achievements and plotting the course forward. At the time, his wife worked 3 days a week as a Char ( a house cleaner), and managed the Spaza shop in the front of the 1 bedroom shack. He also bought burger patties  from a Muslim butcher on the Cape Flats and sold it to people in the city.

 

Salaam.

yasser

 

 

 

 

no 1 gone

Peace and blessings be with you.

 

 

Number 1 of a hundred  is officially gone, 99 to go. It has been a long and arduous journey to the production of the second mierkat. This would not have been possible without the help of my wife, who refused to compromise on getting it right, and to Caz , for getting it right! I am  literally  walking around with 9 copies in my bag, so if there is anyone out there who would like to get their hands on a copy, there’s no time like the now.

Do you also have times in your life when you find yourself so busy, yet you cant see the results of your business?  Is this a shortsightedness of the “i” ?  Well, tonight there shall be results!!! i am working on a short film project with Jabs, and tonight we block the scenes, i.e determine the positions of the actors cameras for every scene of his latest short film. 

 

Jabs in Mauritania, or the western Sahara, or northern Mali....

 

And so from one film make to the next. Nafia and his wife run a production company called Shamanic Organic, no it has nothing to do with magic mushrooms or South American indigenous cactus plants. They have been running their Film / Documentary production company for around 6 years now, and have attended a screening of  a documentary they made “hip hop revolution” in Chicago last year.

 

Naf at a protest rally outside parliament...

 We are planning to shoot another short film… but more about that later.

 

 

salaam.

yasser

Abdul Aziz’s birthday…

 

 Peace and blessings be with you.

The last update to the blog was on the 19^th, so firstly my apologies to the people who pop in on a regular basis! I said to some people, whom  you are about to see, that i would have these photos up on monday, so apologies to you as well. 

I realise that i may have given you a clue as to what’s coming in this particular post, i must also admit that it was difficult to decide whose photo to put first… i eventually decided that seeing that its the mans birthday , lets give him the poll position…

birthday boy!!!

and now you will see why i struggled with the “most important man of the day ” titel…

 

Pule working it...

… so you see my dilemma. Me thinks Phule is soon to be the second Zulu surfer in cape town…

 

yes, hopefully i wont leave anybody out...

Did i mention that this barbeque took place at an apartment complex at the top of a building in down town cape town ?

 

pamela and vince

And there is more to come… be patient .

and some more….

we are slowly approaching the end i am afraid…

dont worry zuk’s hiers jy ook..

 

 

 

 

Mr. Levak sitting one of the first mierkat's con urrently in the possession of one Aziz...

 

i had to take this shot from the hip, he moment she realises you're taking a photo, she pulls a face!

 

i actually waited until i had the attention of both the ladies, " its rare to find someone who looks good eating", the lady in the orange.

 

is there a Darkie in the house?

 

 

and thats it for now…

 

none of the above images are for sale, i’ll  mail them to you higher res if you send me a mail. All the other images on the site ARE, so pull out the Budget for struggling young south African artists, and feel free to purchase as much as you like!!!

salaam

yasser

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bread for thought…

peace and blessings be with you .

 Did you know that bread used to be the centre of the table, and everything else meaning the sauces, vegetables, meat etc was there to accompany it? I didn’t either. Today, this noble staple food has been relegated into the lunch box by and large,  and rarely is to been anywhere near the tables centre. I myself form part of the generation of white bread eaters, the crustless doughy stuff that has been bleached clean of the nutritional values table. At about this stage the masses are stilled and the angelic music starts…..  the curtains open and the drum roll reaches a pitch….

 

SUPER BREAD!!!

Actually the “S”  stands for seeds, sunflower seeds, or maybe the “S” is actually for sunflower?  I consider myself thoroughly re-educated with regards to bread.

The reason for my re-education, a baker called Hassan, in a tiny  bakery called “Le Petit Boulangerie” . Before I had no idea about sour dough, natural yeast, or organic flour. That the crust of a bread featured  in the digestive processes of the human body was news to me.

 

sourdough, organic, delicious...

Hassan used to run the “wellbeing”,  a centre for acupuncture, massage therapy, organic vegetables, really good coffee, and most importantly the birthing ground for his incredibly delicious bread. Since then he has moved premises, occupying a smaller space, but focusing on the bread, muffins and coffees, which we with a certain regularity make our collective duties to finish off on Sunday mornings when we swamp the little courtyard at the back.

 

(from left to right) Haj Abdul Aziz and Adnan in the courtyard of Le Petit Boulangerie

It is our normal meeting place on a Sunday morning, where we usually grab a muffin and a coffee  before we decide where we are surfing that day.

For those of you who need to see it to believe it, Le Petit Boulangerie is in Kilarney street i.e.  you coming from the city via the M3, on to the main road, and eventually turn left at the robots (which is what we South Africans call traffic lights….Really!)  go under the overhead metal train bridge, and take the first left after…. Kilarney !!

I strongly recommend the chocolate muffins if you do manage to make your way there. 

ps, recently i’ve been told the bread has been sold out by 11am, so i would recommend getting there early.

 

salaam

  yasser 

 

 

 

SOLD!!!

Peace and Blessings be with you.

I would like to congratulate everyone who visits this post, and everyone who passes it on to their friend, males links to this site and posts comments. Last week and Friday I sold my first canvas print as a result of this site!!!

 

1 of 25 gone....

THANK YOU , THANK  YOU , THANK YOU!!!

This thrice repeated  thank you goes to a woman who has in the past supported me by buying my work, though more importantly, bought my work because she wanted to (and did) hang it on her wall.

 

delight!

For continuing the tradition of support, for motivating and encouraging, and  for all the times that you have delighted us ( and here I speak for the thousands of people you have performed for lady) with your voice and spirit, THANK YOU  Zolani!!!

For those of you who dont know Freshly Ground, you need to do some research !!! http://www.freshlyground.com/ , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshlyground , and    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zolani_Mahola  !!

 

and now for another moment I stumbled upon….

 

it only exists if i can put it in my mouth!

At the end of 2002, at the behest of my 85year old grandmother, I joined her on a train journey to Johannesburg. Let me elaborate on the significance of this journey with regards to Mamma; it took 28 hours! I was implored by her to be her guardian as it was the condition stipulated by my mother and her brother for her participation in this journey of support and protest. Yes, we were on our way to the World Summit for Sustainable Development, yes it was part of a coordinated effort by the Cape Town muslim community to protest and show solidarity with the Palestinian peoples at this international event, and yes my grandmother had it in her mind to walk the 12km from Alexandria township to Sandton ! Thankfully her feet were swollen after the train journey so she could not participate in the march, it was 35 degrees in the shade that day. If you ask anyone who really knew her, they would tell you what an incredibly strong woman she was, how she had to be with the life she endured…. but this is a topic that requires more space than a blog post, and more dedication than 45mins on my laptop.

She does not live in this existence any longer, she has joined all those who have gone before us. May the Lord of the Universe, The Source of Peace, The Maker of Beauty Bless her, Bestow Peace on her, and Grant her a Return that is filled with Light.

 

Ameen.

 

mamma janie...

Mamma Janie (first from left)

 

salaam

 

Yasser

 

 

 

 

 

the big rock and the facelift…

Peace and Blessings be with you .

 

This morning we awoke to this Glorious sight.

For those of you, who have never been to cape town, may I introduce table mountain……

 

stone house aka table mountain

How many of you out there know that this rock was called “hoerri kwagga”? i may have gotten the spelling wrong, but the meaning i know to be stone house, which was also the name the first peoples gave to cape town. at least now  you are able to visual what we mean when we say the city bowl.And speaking about the city bowl , this morning I stumbled across that institution of long street, “Mama Afrika” in the process of having a face lift….

 

from the ether...

buffi ‘s modus operandi : “I sat on the pavement across the road and looked at the building… then I start painting”

 

 

 

man at work

did I mention that this is not a job for anyone who has a fear of heights.

 

buffi says he fell from this structure twice...

 and now to guess what it will look like once its done….check out buffi’s site

http://www.buffibraveart.net/index.html

sitting on the scaffolding this morning we spoke about the end of the month panic for free lancers, and then both had a good laugh at the realization that whats coming to you is coming to you, so you may as well enjoy it.

 

salaam

 

yasser 

 

 

 

shapes…

peace and blessings be with you.

 

one of the things I realized in hindsight  about photography that I enjoy, is being able to see relationships of things to each other…

 

the relationship of a multinational petroleum supplier to the atmosphere for example…

total...

I like the shape of the incursion into the open space of the sky, and the contrast of the red and blue.

 

in continuing with the theme of shapes , and skies…

 

government installation 1 ...

another thing about photography that I also enjoy is that occasionally one finds oneself looking up.

 

government installation2

from the outside , the two buildings above have an almost science fiction futuristic feel, and could as easily be outposts on an alien planet. the words grim, stark and authoritarian springs to mind….though there is a an appealing comfort in the predictability, the feelings of solidness of the structures that has to mentioned. it could also be the governments approach to modern art?

is there anyone out there that can answer a question for me? were these buildings constructed during apartheid? I am of the opinion that they were.

 

as always I look forward to your comments.

 

salaam

 

 

yasser

 

 

 

weineraai berlin

peace and blessings be with you .

 

the places that I find myself working most often tend to be coffee shops that have free wireless, common enough I suppose, but free coffee and food ???

that’s not exactly the case, though it is certainly surprising when you get asked to pay how much  you thought the meal was worth….

welcome to weineraai , berlin , germany…

 

 

weineraai

situated in prenslauerberg this was one of the my first “offices” in berlin. the people are friendly, the coffee is good, and so is the light.

 

a bit closer to home…

I took the train from muizenberg this morning and foolishly paid for a ticket to five stops before cape town station as I had heard  about a delay at salt river station(2 stops before) and thought I would be clever by getting of the train and taking a minibus taxi!! DID I MENTION THAT IT MUST BE CLOSE TO 36 deg c  IN THE CITY TODAY! I eventually got to the city, and made my way to my first appointment vie Government Avenue running through the Gardens and that’s where I met Isaac…

who was born and bread in gugulethu, cape town. the hat he is wearing is from 1983, and belonged to his grandmother , who was Sotho. it is easy to forget the actual diversity that is present in the mother city…. Isaac is an aspiring animation artist currently working as an intern at  clockwork zoo.

 

further along my walk I encountered another reminder

 

"slaapstad"

and that is that capetonians know how to kick back and relax, hence the nickname (mainly given to us by people from up north) “slaapstad” which rhymes with kaapstad (Afrikaans for cape town) ans means sleep city.

 

I hope you have a splendid weekend, and if you in cape town that you get to take a dip in one of the oceans at our disposal!

 

before I go, just to give you an idea of my current “office”

 

salaam

 

yasser 

 

 

 

 

haze…

peace and blessings be with you.

 

there are few challenges when faced with the task of posting daily, especially when one wants to present quality imagery, and content ie words that do not totally destroy  the various moods induced by the images.

I shall therefore keep the content in this post to a minimum.

 

the m5 at night...

 

driving from the city centre for about 8 minutes on the N2 one encounters the m5, running perpendicularly…. this is one of the main roads running from milnerton on the west coast to muizenberg on the east. it also tends to be on of the most congested roads in morning traffic!  I found it one evening resting magically in a haze of mist.

 

petrol, diesel and beautiful light...

the 2 main points connecting this and the previous image is that what is produced at this installation is used to power the vehicles that travel on the previous main road , and many others all over the country, at a slightly increased price 46cent / liter if I am not mistaken due to the petrol price increase recently. a fire burning in the field next to the petrol refinery added the photogenic haze.

 

salaam

 

yasser

 

 

post move….

peace and blessings be with you .

the last time I uploaded to the site  must be over one week ago at least. everything that we own in the way of furniture as well things too big to put in the car has been put into storage. this is where this post should actually begin , and that is by saying a very grateful thank you to the men from ASSIST-U-MOVE. initially we were meant to move two days earlier though we changed our minds when the men from the previous moving company arrived and literally balked at the sight of the stairs that was their lot, numbering approximately 50 , uneven , and constructed from mountain rock it more resembled the well-known platteklip gorge hiking trail that takes one to the top of table mountain than a stairway. combine this with the formidable collection of cupboards dating back to when my mothers parents married and you shall understand why  I bare no grudge towards the initial team for turning  around almost immediately. I would like to at this stage highly recommend the above company to any one who has the laborious task of relocating home from cape town to anywhere in the country….

 

…….on to new frontiers…

 

new horizons

did I mention that it feels amazing ? during the process a realization was reached, one that pointed to the fact that we have too much clothes , i.e. some the items had not been worn in one year!! had I been wealthy enough to qualify to pay Zakat ( “an annual payment taken from livestock, certain kinds of agricultural produce, and monetary wealth and goods provided they exceed a minimum amount and have been owned for at least one year “  it is obligatory on all Muslims as it one of the five pillars of Islam ) I think we would be eligible to pay an amount based on the unworn clothing.  as it turned out, this was the criteria we used when deciding what to keep, and what to let go.

letting go...

so now that a large percent of our baggage has been removed the heady feeling related to the unrestricted capacity to move has coloured the mundane with an exciting hue of possibility……

 

focus...

like many things in life, the things we strain towards, the goals we desire, the successes we wish for, are things we focus on. stay focused on the light, is a reminder to me and you… its all very simple in theory, to strive towards that which our heart desires we must act accordingly, though often we find ourselves off course as it were, “floating” in see of indecision and indifference, yes, our vision becomes impaired and we see things “wrong”  with ourselves, with others etc, etc, etc. as you may guess, this is a familiar ground for me. take the time, make the time to do what is important for you. this is my advice to me and you. if we take the opportunity to count all the things that are “right” with ourselves , taste buds for example , I am sure it would outweigh by far the things that we think are “wrong” with ourselves.

 

sometimes its possible to stay the course, hold the line, and yes persevere and it is then, on account of the belief that you invest that you move so swiftly your feet hardly touches the ground……

salaams

 

yasser

 

 

 

 

light….

peace and blessings be with you .

 

noor...

this is my screen save , this is the  arabic word which means light… light has many meanings …it is a currency , it is an understanding …. it is an unveiling  , and it is dedicated to everyone who sees it . it is especially dedicated to jon and lily with best wishes for their marriage !!! thank you for your support , it is much appreciated.

enjoy the ride..

the dash of abdul aziz’s beautiful merc  , which he graciously allowed me to use for a test shoot … 

there are signs that we encounter when we undertake a journey …. sometimes glaringly obvious and necessary , sometimes more hidden , but as glaringly  necessary …. people in their everyday existences give and receive signs and we see them with the lenses of our own idiosyncratic momentary fluctuations . (does that make sense? , it  feels right ..ish) this is in-fact a volatile cocktail that can leave composure and peace in ruptured shards if we refuse to recognize our “selves” in the whole business. righteous indignation becomes the detonator , and a chain reaction of   incredible proportions can ensue , depending on the hardness of the head and the thickness of the skins of those involved. 

breathing deep , calculating the actual “damage ”  ( ie , not the damage to the ego and pride ) are all coping mechanisms,  and then , to seal the deal as it were , the realisation that in any way , we are all , yes , every single one of us , a collection of particulars , particle in nature , that blip in and out of existence a million times in the time it takes you to say blip…..  so why the fuss?

easier said than done , most definitely , practice what you preach , eventually insha Allah . 

 

squares...

and now for something completely different….

i like the  colour of this wall , what it has to do with relationships , atoms  , or eruptions i dont know.

have a wonderful weekend everyone !!

salaam 

yasser

packing up….

 

muizenberg beach...

peace an blessings be with you.

aka , surfers corner …. and we leaving , well in a manner of speaking. slowly our intentions and energies are being directed to packing up the beautiful house that we have been living in for the last year , which is about ten minutes walk from the above . i must admit that i have calmed down considerably since my last post … i find myself rather encouraged to put more effort into self marketing and “self” sustainability as it were. 

i forgot to mention that the post cards are now also available at “helloagain” in bloem street, 41 was it ? thanks lyn , for putting on the final touches. 

also the cards have been going steadily from u&me  at 210 long street , thanks to ahmad & tamburai.                                   wind in the reeds

sometimes all one longs for is to be taken by the Wind and blown to where we need to be…… is not always easy to let go   and be taken. which is why we have sometimes to push a little , close our eyes a little , and leap blindly a little….

vuil plak...

this is for all the folk out there who keep going , day in and day out , keeping their chins up , and their hearts Light.

salaam

yasser

aluta continua

 

the struggle continues...

peace and blessings be with you.

like the picture above , which comes from a demonstration organised by the south african communist party  , where people were protesting against the xenophobic attacks that   spread like a cancer through south africa not too long ago , i protest !!

i protest and i console myself at the same time , i i console myself because i now know that i am doing the right thing by creating an alternative to the photo editor project manager from cape town path in my photographic career. i got informed today , 3  days before the “job” was meant to start , that it was given to someone else. the only reason i  found this out at all ,  was because i went in to find out in person. 

 

if only i had a whistle!!

so generally ,  i am of the opinion that affirmative action has no place in a society where respect exists and people are evaluated on the basis of their ability. particularly today i find myself feeling that especially in cape town it is a necessary, and possible to please be directed at …….. !!! no , thats not what this blog’s about , though there are somethings that exist in our society that need to be opened like that proverbial can of worms….

the only other possibility is that i am completely crazy … though i think i am not. 

down with gatekeepers down!!!

salaams

 yasser

what is freedom…?

peace and blessings be with you .

maybe far to an ambitious topic for the short space of time i have to upload todays images?

spread your wings....

i took this picture in berlin almost a year and a half ago… to be completely honest , i cropped this image from a picture i took almost a year and a half ago…!

when i asked the question , i was thinking of all the  many different dimensions , concepts and definitions that freedom possess. there is one man in particular that i am thinking of , miyere ole miyendazi  , quite a mouth full right  , wait till you hear what he has to say…. www.maasaiwarrior.com

miyere ole miyendazi

… a picture i took of miyere at andre’s farm in tamboerskloof  for publicity for an interactive exhibition conceptualized by miyere called “NO BORDERS”.

 

maasai warrior on long street...

the above picture i took when i met miyere , actually , the first time i saw him , i had to look again.. loping with the graceful gate of a gazelle on a cloudy day in the mother city ,the ochre and  red clad maasai warrior stood out like a sore thumb on a foot … i remember twitching involuntarily as i scrambled for my camera… then i remember thinking  no , not now… if i see him again , i will  approach him. that same afternoon i saw him in the company gardens , walked up , and introduced myself to him. this was 4 years ago…? is that right ? anyhow, at the time i was working for the mail&guardian and organised for us to do an article on his mission.

i think freedom is a theme that we shall return to again and again , we all have a notion of it , what it relates to and how we meant to ” achieve ” it.

i hope everyone had a wonderful thursday !

salaam.

yasser

boeta maan’s birthday !:)

 

Abduraghmaan Arend

 

 

peace and blessings be with you.

just before i sign out for the day, yes , this is my second post in one day …

the day before yesterday it was boeta maan’s birthday  , so officially according to the gregorian calendar he is 98  and according to the islamic (lunar) calendar he will be  101!! boeta maan knew my grandfathers grandfather… an incredible man,  with incredible knowledge .

happy birthday Boeta Maan!! may The Maker Bless you with many more years , health and an increase in Light , insha Allah.

salaam 

yasser

new page…

peace and blessings be with you.

i went and watched a play by Shakespeare called “as you like it” last night at the maynardville open air theatre last night i strongly recommend it to those in the city as its the last week. it was brilliant!!! it was very well adapted to the south african context though still maintaining all the subtleties and nuances of old will. i was inspired  by the use of language and reminded at the same time of its value beyond the mere communication of a message.

anyway i wanted to tell all about a new page that went up earlier (ten minutes ago) upon which i shall put my published work ( self and otherwise ) look at published above…

 

oh really...?

to keep the flow going , here’s a moment i waited for , having spotted what must be someone’s work of art on a wall in the city …any ideas whose responsible for the turquoise stripes ?

take care , be safe..

salaams

yasser

another new week has begun…

peace and blessings be with you.

we are well on our way , and making good progress into the month of february… time is as ever slipping through our fingers and all we can hope for is that we somehow are living in a way that impacts our immediate environment in a way that contributes . living in a way that has regard for what lies above and beyond the apparent “reality” or is that “apparent” reality ?

last week i went to delft …                                                             delft…

working as a photographer has its advantages… sometimes work takes you to the places that you need to see, even though ordinarily you would not make the missions of getting there . delft is one of those places …

windswept and sandy, the kind of sand that gets every …. delft is on the cape flats, one of the areas set aside for low cost housing for the poor, one of the areas set aside  by the ANC (african national congress , viz. the ruling party in south africa) to do a door to door campaign for the upcoming elections.

the anc's door to door campaign in delft

the interesting thing about the western cape ( the province that i live in) is that it has never been one of the places where the ANC won an outright electoral victory. delft is a very interesting place in that traditionally and here i mean as a result of the “tradition ” of apartheid  people of different race classifications “naturally ” stayed in groups , though among the more affluent middle class the mixing of races is more prevalent, but in delft , the poor black , and coloured live together … 

 

living in delft

i am no political analyst , so perhaps i should leave the social theories to the socialists….hmmm thats not right is it? anyway , what i do know is what i hear when i speak to people . the ruling party has been in power for almost one and a half decades and many people want change. they want change in their living conditions, change in the crime situation, change in the employment levels ….

don’t get me wrong, i favour no political party, i favour people. a political party by its definition must have vested interests…. it must win to acquire a majority , to acquire decision and policy making power and ultimately the power to a large extent to decide the direction and flow of resources… is there any other option in our “modern” era?

i do not know , but what i do know that our “modern” era itself is a conglomeration of concepts , cognitive structures and meanings that has gained supremacy to the detriment and leading to the disappearance of others. democracy could be one of them for all i know….

maybe a bit to much rambling today, interested to hear your thoughts.

salaams

yasser

ps. thanks to all die hard yasserbooley blogspot checkers out there!!:)

figment of my imagination…

peace and blessings be with you.

just  in case you think that everything i am talking bout is a figment of my imagination ….

the real tamburai

remember in the beginning …the really cool coffee/design shop , and the really cool people who run it?  well , i took these pictures there the afternoon of the official launch of the mall , 210 on long. 

 

& the real ahmed

did i mention that the launch was a real success , with lots of people in attendance …..and now that you know that they “really” exist  , please feel free to visit them!!                                                     mse ( pronounced mmmse’)

did i mention  that i actually went to the steak spot in the township last week sunday  again…. with thomas , my homza ( colloquial for bru …colloquial  for good friend lit. brother) from austria visiting the mother city with hemma ,  the sister of my brother-in law zaid….. gottit?  ( if you think my family  connections puzzle you now, wait a while… i got a moerse  [ afrikaans for very big ] family )

anyhow… i bumped  into mse  there , performing with his best friend , form the eastern cape ….. if you want to see  those images , please remind me, as i have to resize the images etc, etc and wont have time to do it all now .

 

a little bit of self promotion!!!

i’m allowed to okay!!:) anyway , the conceptology  behind the presentation  has nothing to do with me .. its all my wife’s doing … really…  quite cool no?

its a scorcher in cape town today ,and i missed the opportunity to go swim at kajalas (our very own , secret “private” beach ) as friday is family night , and i dont want to arrive at me mama’s too late , besides , as per the advice of a certain mr. adams , its crucial to post regularly….:)

there are one or two people who actually look forward to seeing the new posts , THANK YOU !!!!!

salaams

yasser

ignition….!!

peace and blessings be with you . 

 

ignition...

its the official launch of u&me , when ? now!! going from 4 to ten tonight  , the mall with all the cool designer shops etc , including u&me is having an opening bash!!

i am going there now to take some pictures ,and hope to post some later if i have time .

salaams

 

yasser

its a big world out there….

for the first time this afternoon i ventured out into what i believe is called the bloggosphere (please correct if thats wrong ) and its huge….

so many people… so many messages … so many images…. 

first things first though …

peace and blessing be with you .

 

muslim...?

more and more , people are embracing islam in the townships of cape town , and south africa in fact. i worked for a monthly newspaper called community news for 1 year , and  one of the stories i had to cover , was a trip to signal hill organised for muslim youth from the township  during ramadan. this picture was taken on the bus trip.

in the eye of the beholder...

when i first got my digital camera, i was taking pictures of everything , including the kitchen sink… the sink happens to be in an old farm house , the actual farmhouse for the area that is now called kenwyn. i was graciously allowed  board and lodging for no cost for at least 3 months… you know who you are , thanks bru !!!

 

inner city green

in the middle of the city , we find the company gardens , established by the “company”  in this instance the VOC or , dutch east india company , to grow the essential fruit and vegetables so needed by the scurvy riddled sailors rounding the tip of africa in their perilous quest for the east. it is also surprisingly peaceful , and typically filled with midday snoozers , 1st daters , “i want somewhere peace full to eat my lunch ” office workers , squirrels , egyptian geese , sea gulls and pigeons. 

okay, now i need to go and organise ten photographers to photograph the pre opening of parliament , hosted by the anc ….

salaams

yasser

something is better than nothing….

or is it…. well , time will tell , it is early days yet .

 

kite flying in inhambane

for those of you who know me this  image may be familiar , its the son of the taylor on the side of the road who made 2 shirts for me . there was a time that i shot everything with my 28mm, mainly becausefor a long time that was the only lens i had .

the next shot also has a light feature…

i have been working for esp afrika for the last 5 years or so. i got connected through a good friend , also a hot photographer , shadley lombard . this character( above) was the trumpet player for a seriously cool hip hop outfit from holland ….hmmm i may be mistaken , so if you know better , please inform me !!

gotto run , looking for a beautiful and cheap house to live in the city bowl , sound impossible…. lets see!

 

salaam 

yasser

how amazing ….

peace and blessings be with you .

i am sitting at U&ME in long street and i was just thinking , how amazing that from a coffee shop in long street , cape town , south africa , i can share with people that i have met in , and people i am yet to meet all over the world. i had lunch with ebra and he reminded me that i said that i would join a photographers agency after i came back from pilgrimage …. i am still not too sure, it makes sense on many different levels , though there is something inside of me resisting….

the other amazing thing , and i should probably apologise to those of you who are accustomed to more ordered communication styles , is that i can almost randomly post images that “feel” right on any given day , so have a way to see how “coincidence” and “choice” come together over time , like a tapestry perhaps?

anyway , we all know why you are really here , so without any further ado …..

my big toe

my first published work was for a magazine called “design indaba “, and i think you can still find it online if you have the time to kill…. i got that job standing in a queue at the movies on tuesday (the cheap ticket night) when i bumped into Michael stellenberg , a friend and in my opinion a seriously hot designer who asked me if i was interested in doing a photo-essay for this magazine that he worked for? that time i still shot film , slide film in fact , and crossed all of it , so i told him that if they paid for the film processing , i’d do it ! anyway , i did it , and i got the cover. the reason for this rather long winded story is that the second time my work was published , was for me , my entrance into the world where i felt okay being called a photographer, see , i started working for the mail&guardian , my favourite newspaper . the photo above was taken when they asked me to go out and capture south africans on holiday. if i remember correctly , these ladies are from gugulethu , an old suburb/township .

gugulethu sunrise

the above shot was taken at sunrise on the day i did my first job as assistant director. no one got paid that day, we helped out , pitched in to get xander’s music video for theba (the original social worker)  shot in one day. mario , joseph , tofiq  ,brevan and i cant remember if eeb was involved worked non stop well into the night , but we got it done. the video was screened on m-tv base a good couple of times. this shot was taken when we realised that we needed a ghetto blaster to actually get the words in sync , so started waking up theba’s friends  and eventually survived. xander just had the launch of his book last night ” the status of greatness” , and will be launching his new cd this friday ./;.

robben island fence

one of the first times i got paid for taking photos was when i worked for stonehouse productions , doing story board stills for a documentary on slavery. i got to take the ferry to robben island a couple of times, and had the priveledge of being allowed to walk all over the island . this was the fence running around the perimeter of the prison building. 

i would like to thank mr. adams for his constructive criticism , and jabs for reminding me of the time they thought i wanted tobreak into a bank with a trained pigeon!!! 

in the meanwhile , i will endeavor to be more constant , even if it means the posts are a little shorter!

thanks to everyone taking the time to read this .

 

salaams

 

 yasser.

thank you!

peace and blessings be with you.

i realise that besides it not being easy to update the blog on a daily basis , i also have to contend with american spelling , only because i was taught , and more or less know how spell in the queens english , so it is a minor irritation, but one that is easily managed. 

before i go any further , i would like to thank a few people, starting with my wife , who helps me in ways that i don’t always appreciate out loud. thank you my liefie (lovey  in afrikaans ). then i would like to thank miyere , clare and christoph who all commented in one way or another. 

i am starting to accept the fact that i have way too many photos to turn them all into postcards , though if there is a request for post cards to be made ,a print or a larger jpeg we can make a plan. 

solomons hands

these hands belong to solomon. i know him from seeing him around the city , selling super glue for cash. the glue comes in strips of ten , and if i remember correctly , he sells them for 4 rands each  or 3 for 10 rand. solomon is full of “tjappies”  ( an afrikaans dialect for gang tattoos , usually prison gangs) , in his neck , on his face and arms , and on his legs. i was working as a fixer for a german documentary maker looking to shoot a pilot to take back to the fatherland and get funding so that they could make a feature doccie on south africa , what has changed , stayed the same , gotten worse…. and so i called solomon over to have a chat with us. the life of crime that he has lived was over, its something that has no benefit for him(in his own words, albeit afrikaans) , so he humbles himself and sells super glue  to try and sustain the family that he has for so long neglected. he was married , but his wife passed on , and when he told us about her , he shed a tear. now he has his children , and he has to provide for them. what does his hands tell you ?

 

remember that concert you took me to when i was a kid?

sometimes we have memories , or very strong senses of a memory that sticks with us no matter what happens. maybe this kid will grow up remembering the day his mom took him to the free concert on greenmarket square in the city . i have worked with esp afrika on the jazz festivals for the last 5 years probably , its one of my favourite jobs . hey , if anyone knows this kid or his mom , tell them they can contact me for a print .

pentz street , bokaap

i was raised in bo-kaap , one of the oldest suburbs in south africa. i remember seeing some maps in my high school geography classes where bo-kaap was stilled referred to as the malay slave quarter . i lived one road higher than this one , which is at the corner of pentz and pepper street.  you see the water furrow at the right side edge of the road..? as kids we used to climb into plastic milk crates , five in a row , and slide all the way to the bottom! 

again …. thank you to all the people who make the effort to read my ramblings, 

i do really appreciate it

salaams

yasser

day 2

peace and blessings.

thus the second day of blogdom dawns. i forgot to mention yesterday that any of the images you see are for sale , if you need to hang one of these images from your wall desperately , a plan can be made in a reasonable fashion i am sure!

i selected 3 more pictures for the postcard series , and i have a feeling that there is going to be many more , so keep track.  i realised yesterday that the  postcards are also a good value for money collection of photography , and who knows it may end up adorning peoples walls as well as being posted to all corners of the world (nudge nudge).

yesterday i dropped some cards off at african collections on greenmarket square, and i am excited to see what the next 3 look like once printed . you have the unfair advantage of seeing them before they hit the print .

 

yes we have autumn leaves in cape town

 

 

to be severely honest i took this photo from the window of my nissan 1400 bakkie (south african for pick up truck , but a much smaller version in this instance) driving along edinburough  drive  towards the city at the onset of winter, which last year  demanded to be taken seriously!

 

khayelitsha , spine rd turnoff ,from the N2

 

 

during my wonderings in the biggest township in the western cape , i (as an unashamed meat lover ) would start salivating to the olfactory symphony , the steak and sausage sections featuring prominently , that would assail my nostrils upon entry. alas , to my disappointment i never  really was tempted to actually try because of the hygiene element that wasn’t always great…. until that is , i found this gem !!! as you take the spine road turn off from the N2 into khayelitsha , you will pass a little traffic circle (where the army training camp is ) and then on your left you will see a row  of shops like the one above , selling delicious wood grilled beef and sausage . imagine my joy when i discovered that the meat was halaal !! this photo was taken on the 3rd outing there. i strongly recommend this venue for an “authentic township” meal (what is that anyway ??). what i mean by authentic is that  firstly you don’t see ANY tourists ,you park your car on the pavement ,you walk past a couple of township dogs waiting for scraps ,you are stared at ( in a ” i don’t know why you here , but welcome anyway ” kind of way), and lastly gingerbeer is available!

if anyone is interested in going, please contact me, an perhaps we could arrange a group ……  better … you pay for my gas , and my meat and  i’ll take you!!

anyhow , on the the next one…..

why would anyone lock their light?

this is the second image in one day that is connected to food. there is a little place in downtown cape town , where you can by a wholesome meal consisting of either a curry , or chicken , or beef with pap (maize meal , the african staple ) for R20,00. this translates to about 2  euro. it is run by a very friendly man who goes by the name of hashim . walking through the alley way out the back(the kind of alley you can only get between 2 high buildings) to get to the toilet i found this strange state of affairs …..

in cape town one of the biggest scourges  wreaking havoc in initially  the poorer suburbs , notably the cape flats , and then spreading insidiously  everywhere else , is tik aka. methamphetamine . the process of getting high involves using a glass bulb , in some cases specially made (a “lolly” ) but more commonly ,your stock standard everyday variety light bulb.  

now one can look at the metaphor of the light being caged …. and what that means to you , or me , or whether it is even possible ? caging light?

one could also just , now that one knows the story , accept the fact that hashim wasn’t having any more bulb stealing , not if he had anything to do with it that is .

so comes the end of the second post . i look forward to feedback , feedforward, or straight forward feeding if there is lamb or beef involved ( no offense to my vegetarian friends out their , especially not weaam and naf , who fed me unannounced a delicious veg curry !)

salaam 

yasser

Bismillah

peace and blessings be with you.

now , i have been taking photos since ‘92 , a snot nosed 17 year old in a radically shifting paradigm that was to become the “new south africa” . starting my “official” career as photographer with the mail&guardian and then working for magazines and community newspapers i realised more and more that all i really want to do is take the pictures i want to , and somehow create a way to be financially reimbursed at the same time…. a pipe dream i hear you say , “impossible!” from a section of the crowd who have stronger convictions to the contrary ( they will always be there ), “thats a nice thought” from the dreamy eyed youth yet to experience the realities of the “loominosity” ( ie the loomingness) of the month end .

well then ….. i have decided , in the interest of science , and with blinding optimism  (faith)  to conduct an experiment. i am the subject , and the context  or environment of this experiment is the social spaces we inhabit , whether it be online or in material reality  . we “create” our social networks through the choices we exercise when we decide who to meet , interact , socialize with. at least this is one perspective… there is another …. that we meet , interact and socialise with who we need to at that time to forward a direction that we need to embrace . as you may have guessed , i belong to the second school of thought. 

to continue …. the aim of this experiment is to prove  that it is possible  to make a living doing what i love. 

with that in mind , i invite you to participate in this experiment .

step 1 : postcards .

i realised that the quickest way to get my work out there , and to get people to this blog is through post cards . last week i met some amazing people  , lyn  (i hope i spelled your name correctly) the owner of “hello again ” at 44 bloem street  cape town , a boutique t-shirt shop amongst other things , and  tamburai (i hope i spelled your  name correctly !:) the owner of ‘u&me’ , a coffee shop at 210 long street that also has a section where she sells clothing of her own design. then there is ebrahim hernandez , from ‘african collections’ on green market  who has supported all my previous attempts at fame and fortune ( !!! and continues doing so up till today 

the reason i mention these people is because firstly thats where the postcards are on sale ( and i shall soon have links to there websites ) and secondly , these are the first people in my “real network” . in my mind , the” real network ” consists people who i have met in the flesh and blood world who are self motivated doing what they are passionate about , and most importantly willing to help.

FOLLOWING ARE THE FIRST POST CARDS FOR SALE :

fisherman returning from the open ocean

 in my opinion , the best place to by fresh snoek and geel stert  ( i.e.  snoek & yellow tail ) is kalk bay harbour . there are few better fish to throw on the grill for a fish braai (barbeque) . of late the prices of the fish have gone up as a result of exports and quotas and other desperate issues facing south africans whose families traditionally fish for a living . you need to have a connection to even stand the chance of getting a discount , so  when next you go to the harbour , ask for aunty ferial , tell her yasser  told you about her in particular to buy your fish from….. i dont know if you will get a discount but sure hope i will the next time i am there!!

movement of the people 

to the capetonian the image above is instantaneously recognisable, in fact to any south african , thats right ,in this instance it the hemoglobin of the  mother city aka. cape town. with the loominosity of the 2010 world cup m there have been moves to organise transport , this means regulating and co-ordinating the  various taxi associations that exist into one cohesive unit…… all i can say at this stage is good luck and i am glad that this is not my job!!

 

how much people out there actually remember seeing this?

in queen victoria street , the one running from wale to orange , along side of the botanical gardens , just outside the back of what i think is the constitutional court is this horrible reminder of what constitutes the past for all of us. i heard that old hendrik frensch  verwoed , the architect of  apartheid did his thesis on the retardation of learning in children , or something diabolical like that ( please feel free to correct me on this point). why i mention this is to put in context why they didnt just write blacks , instead of non-whites , that would save at least half the paint they used for all the benches , sign posts , notice boards in apartheid south africa. then again , what was black ? , coloured , indian/asian ,  malay,”bushmen”,xhosa , zulu ?

anyhow, i remember …..  and have to remind myself to forget, when i go for job interviews and people think i am the delivery boy for example! by no means is this wide spread , but it does still very much exist.