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 :

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!!

Very good Yasser, I’ll be keeping a close eye on this blog… in fact i need a photo for something… gonna drop you an email…
Peace
Ayyub