First shoot with Muaath Francis

Sometimes shooting children can take a lot of time due to the fact that they are always moving around. My little nephew, Muaath Francis on the other hand, is one of those children who are just so pleasant to shoot. His bubbly personality had allowed me to take some sweet shots. These are but just a few of the images I took of him.

A Vintage Sanctuary

After a quick day in the office of the Hudson Building in De Waterkant Cape

Town where I work part-time, I took my weekly round of city slicking nearby 

The Cape Quater. I came across an appealing little antique store called 

"baraka" which means "a blessing". It is certainly a blessing for all you vintage

lovers out there. The store has an eclectic and historic vibe, with an extremely

friendly staff. The owner Gavin Terblanche (what a humble man), had

enlightened me on his travels and how he came about finding the pieces in his 

shop. There is a mixture of cultures which has influenced him, African, Oriental as well as Pop Culture.

He gave me permission to take a few pictures as I was mezmorized by such an 

amazing callage of memories. 

These are a few pics I've captured at the store:

(All Photo's are my own)

-From the outside of the store, there are attractive art pieces which forcefully draws one in. A lingering sense of a time in which living well meant appreciating the slower things in life.

- Quicky Art, mixing Pop Culture, Film and Media through what appears to look like some sought of a
parody.

- Ornaments of African and British descent, adding to and emphasising the informality and freedom of expression within the store

-Leather Journals from the Middle East, Quircky Jewellry, Post Cards, Antique Frames and old Comics.















Please go and give this store a visit in De Waterkant in Cape Town.
Details:
Shop 13A, Cape Quater, Dixon St De Waterkant
Open: Mon-Fri                                                                   

Knowledge is Power

Ignorance is bliss, as the saying goes. Much like a Novacaine of some sought which soothes, or fabricates reality.
There are two types of bliss which I call :
Subconscious and Conscious bliss

Conscious bliss I associate with the likes of an addict. An addict who craves and thrives on escaping reality. One who has knowledge of truth, but consciously disregards it, and thus derives feeling of bliss.
Subconscious bliss is simply the one who "thinks" he/she knows, but has been either miseducated or not educated at all.

I find these two distinctions quite interesting as it is somewhat contradictory. This stated because, a subconscious user of ignorance is not even aware of its use, but can easily be labelled as ignorant. Where as a conscious user of ignorance cannot easily be labelled or deciphered . Thus, it is indeed the conscious user that we ought to battle with.

Too much theory?

Simple Derivation:
We tend to ask ourselves what is wrong with this world? Or rather what is wrong with the people of this world? So many "sick"and "psychotic" characters infesting our planet, as most people refer to them. The answer is here, the answer is now. Broaden your horizons , open up, read, communicate, be objective, widen that narrow mind,open your eyes, wake, we are all still fast asleep!
You are...what you know....because "knowledge is power".

A French Affair In the Cape

Spontaneous trips will never leave you dissapointed as there are no expectations. About a month ago, my spouse and I had taken one of our unplanned trips heading towards Stellenbosch (Cape Town) wineroutes and had found ourselves an hour out of town. We entered a small town called Franschhoek which is abundanty gifted in it's richness in nature. The town is surrounded by greenery and mountains, and it is also known for being part of the Western Cape's Winelands. As we had entered the town, I had noticed that the names given to the farms, restaurants, wine estates and hiking trails were all French. La Petite Ferm, La Motte , La Providence, Haute Cabriere etc.

I've always known that Franschhoek had a history involving colonization, however I've never really read up on it. As we carried on with our journey, we found ourselves enticed by the Memorial Museum which emphasises on the history of the French Huguenots who settled in the Cape and dominantly in the town of Franchhoek . This Museum gave us refined insight as to when, what, and how the French had lived in the Cape. We saw artefacts which indicated that the French had attempted to improve thier standard of living through wine selling, farming, along with many other general ways of living such as cooking, and production of clothing. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures of these artefacts in the museum. To my understanding, and from what I've read and seen at the museum, the town was only founded in the 1800's, which was two century's after the French settled in the 1600's. The Dutch had settled before the French, and were thus subjected to following the rules and regulations of the Dutch at the time. Today we may find Afrikaaners with French surnames as a result of the Dutch on French fusion.

Apart from the Museum, we came across a beautiful and extensive garden. It had some what resembled the likes of Kirstenbosch Gardens, as it is filled with different types of plants and is surrounded by mountains. The environment has an ideal and romantic ambiance, and as newly weds my spouse and I enjoyed the experience thoroughly.

A perfect muse and inspiration area where one could just sit back relax, take out a book, a camera, a picnic basket etc.

This trip has been one of relaxation as well as education. As a former BA History student I found this trip to be a great advantage towards increasing my knowledge on South African history. There are so many things out there that we ought to find out about our beloved South Africa. I urge you to go out there and explore the beauty's your country has to offer.

An Ode To My Mother

Bitter sweet was the taste of the joyful tears that I've shed on the day I said goodbye. This Goodbye was not one for eternity, but rather one which excluded the nurturing of my beloved mother in the future. Marriage should be seen as the epitome behind the notion of "the coming of age'' , the initiation of becoming your own individual with the instilled values you've picked up throughout being nurtured.

I've always been my father's "apple of the eye''. He had spoilt me rotten, and still does. My mother never worked, as she had chosen to stay home and be apart of her childrens life through every step. She never spoilt me as much as my father did. She could be very strict at times and I guess that had made me a bit rebellious towards her. Nevertheless my mother loved me regardless, and I took this for granted.

I no longer live with my beloved mother. As the saying goes " You never know what you've got until its gone'', it had soon hit me hard. A realisation, thankfully not too late, it had clearly occured to me that she has been the biggest influence in my life. How could I have never seen this. Deep down she has always been my best friend, and sadly it has taken distance to prove this. My finest qualities originate from what she has taught me, my thoughts on religion, character, ethics, academics and the way of life has all been influenced by her and for that I am forever grateful.

Aslong as she is still alive, I will always be there for her, as she has ALWAYS been there for me.

P U L S E - P H O T O G R A P H Y: Conceptual Photography | Write-ups

P U L S E - P H O T O G R A P H Y: Conceptual Photography | Write-ups: To recap on what this section of my blog is about: Photography generally has so many branch offs like portraiture for example, which is one ...

Venting a Form of Shaping Identity?

By analyzing social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Blackberry Messenger on a daily basis I have noticed that majority of individuals see these services as a platform to vent about almost anything. The question is whether or not this is a good or bad thing.

For instance, when people are happy, sad or angry, these emotions are publicly presented to an audience taking in the information and construing it in a way that THEY understand. Because social networking is a virtual sphere, it is inevitable that people may misinterpret the reality of another’s expression. Misconception of ones identity is thus the result if not interpreted objectively or with the knowledge of contextual background.  

Status updates evident of condensed emotions extracted out of context, cause audience to infer their own meaning behind the initial emotion. Hence building and constructing an identity or impression of the other.

The disadvantages of venting are self explanatory, as people may view an individual to be someone he/she is not. For instance when people are in a state of rage they say things that they do not really mean and find social networking to be the perfect phenomenon to express their anger. Positive and happy venting may not be all that bad, personally speaking I find positive and happy expressions to be some what inspiring and often motivational.

Even though individuals vent about how happy they are, it may not always give off a positive impression towards the audience. For example, an individual could be bragging or boasting. This may be a positive expression for the individual, where on the other hand the audience may see this individual as being full of him or herself.

The way in which we use our words plays an important role in the construction of our identities. Sometimes we are unaware of it, and sometimes our emotions gets the best of us that it becomes so easy to vent over these networks with the intention of gaining response. This is not always the best form of communication as we need to learn where to draw the line between the virtual world and reality. Whether people gain from venting or not, the reality is that it may have an effect on their identity.


Image:

http://acturelab.wordpress.com/