Clarens

Went to Clarens for the weekend and I shot this photograph of Leksa...


and Leksa shot this photograph of me and a good friend...

Premature Holiday Mode

Just checked my blog and realized how slack I have been with posting. Probably has something to do with the fact that I'm getting into holiday mode way too soon and just feel like fly fishing and sinking a few cold ones. I've also done a few shoots that I can't release yet but for your viewing pleasure here are a few of those shots. The first shot is from the Cosmo/ Face of Africa shoot which we shot in Zanzibar, the second is a fashion editorial for Dossier which we shot in Durban, and the third is from a shoot with the Blk Jks for Dossier. Full stories to follow...

Pangram

What is it? An online pearler of a rag
Who did it? The legendary Stefan Naude' aka Steak. Yes, he is still alive...
What's inside? 'It will contain general views of the restless public, their interests, ideas and social commentary from relevant subjects to promote forward thinking and general chaos.'
What do I think? It's fucken' awesome, I'm so proud of Stef for bringing this out on his lonesome. Well done my boy, beers all round.

You can view the mag right here on the blog but it would be better for you to click on the mag below and view it in full screen mode. Enjoy

Get your own - Open publication

Wanted

My fashion editorial for Wanted Magazine with Jenny Andrews went really well on Tuesday, see below for a preview. Will post the full story in the near future. Going to Durban on Saturday to do another shoot for Dossier Magazine with Jodie Stinson and got booked on a job thats going to happen in Zanzibar at the end of the month, hell yeah.

Cell C

So here is the Cell C shoot from forever ago, styling by Charlotte Collins.

Updates and Joburg Style

So finally I have had a chance to upload some work., check posts below. I have also shot a story for Joburg Style that will be coming out soon, and Im working on a Nike shoot tomorrow which will be quite rad and on a Wanted Magazine fashion story next week. Here is one of the shots from the Joburg Style shoot which I probably shouldn't upload yet... And I also shot a story for the December issue of Dossier Magazine which my girlfriend, Leksa, styled. Can't upload that yet so check back sometime soon.

Cosmopolitan Editorial

FHM Editorial

Update

I'm shooting more portraits for my 4/5 series this month and the next, got some more film and dark slides so I'm set. Still don't know if I want to upload the ones I have shot already, I'll think about it. And, spring is here so I've been fly fishing again and it's been amazing. Hopefully I'll have stuff to upload soon. In the meantime, here's a photograph that has absolutely nothing to do with my work and a site that you can go visit if you're bored, enjoy.

Gingers

Found an awesome series of portraits of redheads by photographer, Hanne van der Woude. They are published in a book called, 'MC1R – Natuurlijk rood haar. (MC1R is the gene that controls skin and hair colour)'. You can see it here.

One Small Seed Feature

One Small Seed has a feature on me in their latest issue. The coolest thing about the feature is the story that my good friend Rebecca Kahn wrote, thank you Rebecca. Read away...

'Warren the Photographer'

We’ve worked together for a while, but I never knew how to spell his surname. So I called him “Warren The Photographer”. Even credited him as such. But there is more to Warren van Rensburg than just that.

There was a time when you can tell a Warren van Rensburg photo from about a mile away. His colours were muted, all the vibrancy was leeched out and what was left was ghost-like, and often very haunting. His vistas were huge – sky, walls, telephone wires and veld were his backdrops of choice, and even when he was shooting something as tiny as plastic toy soldiers, he set them against windowpanes spattered with raindrops that became huge. It’s like he sees everything in macro – the bigger picture captured and made real.

I loved those photos. They made me gasp, and sometimes feel a bit sad, but mostly I marvelled at this young man, this sweet skater from Vereeneging who shot on an old Mamiya RB67 and saw things differently. We started working at round about the same time – his first portrait for the magazine I was working for was the first interview I was doing for them too. The story was dismal, the subject (a weird gamer-kid who had an unhealthy relationship with the Old South Africa) was impossible to speak to and even harder to shoot. We even made Warren re-shoot him. I still feel bad about that. But even though the story was a bit of a bust, I made a new friend that day.

In the car, we bonded over Modest Mouse. In the month to come, we spent hours together, working on stories, getting whiskey-drunk with interviewees, drinking beer after work and talking about music, art, photos, design. His passion was overwhelming. Whether we were talking about the Pogues or shooting live music, his approach was the same – “Rebecca, you don’t understand,” he’d say, smiling “it’s just amazing…” And it was. His photos reflected that enthusiasm - I could see his joy in the portraits he took and the live music shots. And while he may not do it consciously, I think that Warrens photos have a wonderfully African aesthetic. The dusty pavements, dreadlocked musicians and urban landscapes he shoots are unmistakably local. And his colours remind me of the Highveld in winter – seen through the haze of a watery sun. Warren could make a vox pops shoot on campus into something special, and make ordinary people look like they’ d been posing in front of cameras all their lives.

Since then, I’ve seen his photos grow, and change. The trademark moments are still there – the big skies, the moment of quiet in the middle of the chaos, the four musicians wading out to sea like a group of messiahs about to part the waters, or baptise the brethren. But there’s a maturity to his recent work that shows me that although the skater boy might be growing up, he still thinks everything is amazing.

He’s shooting more black and white, which I think only makes his visions clearer – now there is no colour to distract us from the action on the basketball court, or the man waiting in the hospital. An element of theatre has come into his work – women in elaborate ruffled dresses and masks are beginning to feature, and he makes us want to look not just at the clothes but at them too. But the most exciting work are his portraits. He’s always managed to make a portrait into something more special, but in the last couple of months there has been a beauty and poignancy there that is like nothing I have seen before. Oscar Pistorius looks like a Grecian statue – an imperfect body that’s just a container for immense, controlled power. A series of images of friends clowning around in a bar seem like they were taken as if this was the last chance people would ever have to be together. They’re having fun, but it might be for the last time.

Warren and I don’t get to work together as much anymore. We’re adults now, and have to do serious, adult-y stuff. But every now and then we get together for a beer. And it’s amazing.

By Rebecca Kahn

Essence and Other Things

So I just wrote out a whole essay and accidentally erased it, so now you will get a highlights package.
1. Haven't got permission to publish Cell C, Cosmo or FHM yet
2. A paper in Australia wants to publish my portrait of Oscar
3. Did a story for Essence Magazine based in New York. It invlolved:
-Malaak Rock (Chris Rock's better half)
-Her charity initiative called 'Journey For Change'
-A really nice lady called Wendy from Essence
-30 Kids from under privileged homes in Brooklyn New York
-30 mentors from around America
-Hundreds of kids from SA
-Soweto
-Diepsloot
-Other places
-Other things

The Art of Not Posting

So I've been quite lazy when it comes to blogging of late. Maybe not lazy, just being selective with my time. I've been shooting a lot in the last few weeks, I was on a six day shoot for Cell C, 3 days on a two different Mille' campaigns, another converse shoot, shot fashion editorials for FHM and Cosmo and started a personal project. The personal story is something I've been wanting to do for a while but just never got round to doing it but I finally have. I got a 4 x 5 camera from the Vaal Tech/ Vaal University and have been shooting portraits with it for the last month or so. It's been awesome getting back to two frames per portrait instead of one hundred per portrait. I can't upload any work yet because none of it has been released yet. But I will upload one because else this post will be incredibly boring, this is one of the shots from the Cosmo editorial coming out in October.

Benji Magowan / R.I.P. / 1980.12.03 - 2008.06.26

Benji loved this track...

The Pogues- Fairytale In New York

It was christmas eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, wont see another one
And then he sang a song
The rare old mountain dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
Ive got a feeling
This years for me and you
So happy christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true

Theyve got cars big as bars
Theyve got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
Its no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold christmas eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of new york city
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging,
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night

The boys of the nypd choir
Were singing galway bay
And the bells were ringing out
For christmas day

Youre a bum
Youre a punk
Youre an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy christmas your arse
I pray God its our last

I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Cant make it all alone
Ive built my dreams around you

Coffee Stains

Xenophobia On Our Streets

My girlfriend and I decided this morning that we were going to Primrose Police Station in Edenvale, Johannesburg to donate food to the people affected by the xenophobic attacks, a trip to the store and 60kgs of mielie meel later and we were there. I was shocked at the amount of people that were there, I was thinking a few hundred but there were over 3000 at the last count. Most of the people there were from Mozambique. There is a Methodist church across the street from the Police Station so that became the base for food and safety. The women and children were kept on the church property and the men were in the veld between the church and the Police Station. We are going back this weekend so if there is anyone who would like to donate money for more food just leave a comment and we can make a plan. A 10kg bag of mielie meel costs R38.

"I Fought The Law And The Law Won'

I was busy shooting the MTV party at the Nike store in Melville last night when I decided to go have a smoke outside. (Outside happened to be on the curb and I happened to have a beer in my hand.) Then two cops pulled up and started harassing everyone outside for drinking in public, and there were a few people drinking outside. They were fucken' rude and started throwing their weight around, so I said a few words and the next thing I knew I was in the back of the SAPS van. I then spent two hours in a cell at the Brixton Police Station with seven other guys, insane. I didn't deserve to be arrested, I totally believe that it was a race thing. I'm starting to seriously hate South Africa.

White Riot- The Clash

White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own

Black people gotta lot a problems
But they dont mind throwing a brick
White people go to school
Where they teach you how to be thick

An everybodys doing
Just what theyre told to
An nobody wants
To go to jail!

All the powers in the hands
Of people rich enough to buy it
While we walk the street
Too chicken to even try it

Everybodys doing
Just what theyre told to
Nobody wants
To go to jail!

Are you taking over
Or are you taking orders?
Are you going backwards
Or are you going forwards?

Fancy Links Of The Day

New exhibition by Alec Soth, 'The Space Between Us'. Click here.

Short write up about me. Click here.

Buy a print of my Oscar Pistorius portrait. Click here.

Mother's Day

Went to the concert at the Joburg Zoo yesterday with my family and Leksa's family. What a lovely chilled day at the park. The last photo on the post was taken by my brother Andrew, I think it is the best one.

Lampost

Lampost Casting Agency has got it's website up and running. I shot all the pics for the site so go check it out. Go on.

Family Portrait

My brother, Andrew, drew this portrait of me. Go check his blog out for more crackers.

Oscar Pistorius