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 !!!!!
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 .
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 ….
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!
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!
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,
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 !)
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.
mse ( pronounced mmmse’)
movement of the people
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