Glow

I have been using Glow for a few years now, they are a photographic rental company, based in Johannesburg, that will sort you out with anything you need. And if they don't have it, they will make a plan to find it for you. You can check the gear they rent out here or give them a call on 011 880 8124 for more info. Here's a portrait I shot of the owner, Lexi, a few weeks ago doing what he does best...?

Wonderful Machine

I was recently asked to be part of the website/agency 'Wondeful Machine'. This is what they have to say about themselves:

'Wonderful Machine is a boutique web portal dedicated to connecting the world's most talented photographers with the industry's most discerning clients.'

They have some awesome photographers on their books and I'm stoked to be part of it as well. You can see the site here.

I was also lucky enough to scrub into a surgery at the Pretoria West Hospital last week Thursday. It is for a story for Men's Health Magazine about local heroes, I can't upload any of the images yet but I took a self portrait for memories sake.


FashionWeek was held last week at the Sandton Convention Centre. I shot a few of the designer's shows backstage, including Gideon, Black Coffee, Lisa Jaffe and Tiaan Nagel. I'm going to post the images in a seperate post so hang in there.

Prints For Sale

Is anyone interested in buying prints, I have quite a few left from the exhibition? Size wise they are all A2 and A1. If you are just leave a comment or mail me and we can sort something out. Just uploaded a booklet with the prints and prices to the above post.

The Street

A friend of mine, Adam, has opened up a clothing store in Greenside called 'The Street'. He stocks some awesome gear so go have a look, he is right next to Deerhunter. These are from the opening night.

Updated Portfolio Vibes

Open publication - Free publishing - More portraits

To download go here

New Website

So I have finally have a website. It was designed by Chris from Injozi and I think it's awesome. Go have look and let me know what you think. Click on the link below

Warren van Rensburg Photography

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

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

"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.

Nike-Be True

Nike has opened up a store/gallery in Melville that will be open for the next 6 months. I was asked to shoot some photographs for the exhibition, that will run as long as the store is open, and also to shoot portraits of people who attended the opening last Tuesday. I shot portraits of Oscar Pistorius for the exhibition, but I'm going to post them in a separate post because I think they deserve that. The prints of Oscar are for sale, they are an edition of 6 and you can email me if you are interested in purchasing one. You can also see more of the portraits from the night here.

Photo Book on Issuu

About Me

SL asked me for a few words about myself for their contributers page so I asked Stef (ST[E]AK) to write it for me and this is what his little hand wrote:

'Warren is a photographer just like so many photographers in Johannesburg or the country for that mattter. He carries a black backpack with a tripod on the side and likes to have a few toots at a counter that serves barley pop with a side order of loud music. He is not very fancy or particularly neat and I think if he had a choice he would rather be singing back-up vocals for Shane McGowan in 'The Pogues' and loiter around bars in Dublin... Imagine looking at the world the way Warren sees it, it's a blessing in a certain way but also a curse'

South African Journal Of Photography

I was recently interviewed by South African Journal Of Photography, they have done a 5 page profile on me for the June issue of their magazine. It is avaliable at most magazine stores but for you who aren't going to purcahse it, here is the profile in 1's and 0's. And the interview if you want to read it.

Where are you currently based? What type of benefit does your type of photography hold?

I’m based in Johannesburg, I moved from Vereeniging in 2003 just after I finished studying. Living in ‘The V’ didn’t offer much for a professional photographer, unless you wanted to work in a one-hour photo lab until you died. I can’t really say what benefit my work holds, maybe in the future, if it lasts that long, we can see what benefit it holds.

What projects are you currently busy with?

Well, I’m trying to do something new right now, more of a documentary approach maybe. I’m still trying to find a story or subject to shoot but in the mean time I’m just going to shoot everything that happens around me. I went to a farm in Delarayville(SP?) recently and had an awesome time shooting a stuff I never go near.

Where were you trained and how did your past shape your perception on photography?

I studied photography at the Vaal Triangle Technikon, now the Vaal University, for three years. I got into photography through skateboarding strangely enough. I started skating when I was about 16 and used to buy the skateboarding magazines and they exposed me to people documenting life with a camera. There were some great photographers in those magazines, Atiba Jefferson, Grant Brittan etc. and they were my biggest influences when I started shooting. I think it’s also the reason I still shoot youth culture etc. It was only when I started to study photography in 2000 that I got to learn about the greats like Henri Cartier Bresson, Robert Frank, Andre Kertesz and so on. I also think growing up in Vereeniging made me search for the ‘cool’ because of the lack of it in the town.

What, in your opinion, are the challenges and frustrations faced by photographers in SA?

The fact that we still see photographaphic style as it was back in 1993. There are so few photographers being influenced by what is happening in the rest of the world right now. And the fact that clients do not pay enough for our work, especially editorial work. And also freedom from magazines to express ourselves and not just copy a reference. But maybe that’s just me.

Who/what influenced you in your career?

Annie Liebovitz and Mark Seliger are probably my biggest influences; their ability to capture a personality and their use of tone and colour kills me. And also the Magnum group, they are a constant source of inspiration. Stef Naude has also been a huge influence; he is a friend of mine who is a designer/ art director/ writer/ artist/ drinking partner. We have worked on various magazines together and even conned a publisher into letting us takeover their magazine, STAGE, for a brief four issues. And music, without music I don’t think I would be a photographer.

How would you describe your style?

I don’t like putting into words but; clean, strong design, spontaneous, loose. Time for a change though.

Do you think that digital and conventional photography can find a common ground in the future? Or that conventional photography will be pushed further into the history books?

I don’t think we will ever lose film, or conventional photography. It’s kind of the same situation when photography was first discovered and painters said that because of photography painting would die.
How much of your current work do you shoot on digital?

Everything, except when a client is willing to pay for film, processing etc. Film is too expensive for me to shoot on personally.

What would you ultimately like to achieve in photography?

Not sure really. I just want to keep on doing it forever, and keep on getting better at it, learn more everyday.

To what extent has digital photography changed your concepts of photography, or do you still approach photography in the same way?

II still approach photography in the same way I used to, digital has just allowed me to shoot a hundred times more than I would have when I was shooting film. I just miss 6/7 and 6/6 format

Exhibition At 'Canned Applause'

I'm exhibiting my portraits of musicians next week at Canned Applause, check the flyer for details.

I'm A Model?

Seven other photographers and I were involved in a fashion editorial with GQ Magazine on Monday this week, we all got to shoot a shot of another photographer and in turn got to be shot as a model, of sorts. Here are some of the shots from the shoot, not to sure when the story is coming but it will probably be in the next two months or so.