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.

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