In Bloom

Bensusan Museum of Photography

Situated on the top floor of the Museum Africa in Newtown, lies the Bensusan Museum of Photography which displays the history of this field and the evolution from black and white to colour photography. This part of the museum houses a wide range of cameras: from 19^th century studio cameras and Daguerreotypes to 35mm film cameras and the later 21^st century digital cameras.

Started by Dr. Arthur Bensusan, who donated his collection of antique cameras, photographs and books in 1968, the museum also houses a photography library and a collection of photographs which illustrate the vast historical, cultural and political landscape of the country.

It is definitely worth a visit for those interested in the history and evolution of the camera and a good way of passing time or spending a Saturday morning.

Tambourines are cool

I think tambourines are good to have around when needing an 'easy' and portable percussion. Couple one of those noisy buggers with a stringed and a wind instrument and you’ve got the making of a one man band.

I started this blog with the intent of documenting and sharing my photo-taking learning experiences. So, here’s a little snippet into a little corner of mine, using some of my favourite things, like the guitar again. 

This is the workstation together with a diagram of the light set-up which excluded the use of a back and a fill light:

Workstation

light setup

The folders and box files came in handy and served not only as good black backdrop but absorbed the light instead of dispersing it. Mind you, these pics were taking just a little after 2pm on a very sunny day. Most of the reading I’ve been doing has been placing great emphasis on the importance of natural light, after all the sun is a great tool and produces the best light. However, I couldn’t achieve the effect I wanted until I closed the curtain and made use of artificial light.

So, here they are:

I decided to do very little imaging editing, in fact the only thing I did with these pics was to crop them. What do you think?

The Moving Feet

And here they are. 

"Fourth Step" - Acrylic/mixed medium on canvas panel - 250 x 250mm

"Third Step" - Acrylic/ mixed medium on canvas panel - 250 x 250mm

"Second Step" - Acrylic/mixed medium on canvas panel - 250 x 250mm

"First Step" - Oil and Acrylic/ mixed medium on canvas panel - 250 x 250mm

Snippets of the moving feet

Where are they headed?

What keeps them moving?

What trenches do they create as they go?

Do they ever go back?

I started this footsteps series and did 3 out of the 4 pieces more than a year ago, then realising a minor glitch that was not part of the story nor contributed to the message I wanted to convey, I shelved the whole thing.

Fast forward to 13+ months later...

With a little persuasion from a friend and the need to complete something, I did the final piece. Did it come out the way I envisioned it? Far from it. Was the process fun, therapeutic and worth it? Definitely.

Slices of Agate Geode

While walking through the geology section of the Museum Africa in Newtown, Johannesburg, I discovered these beauties. Agates are made up of layers of chalcedony, a type of quartz and are formed in rounded spaces in lava rocks called geodes. Playing around with the white balance and the ISO settings and not using a flash indoors was really exciting and a worthwhile experiment.

I'm definitely going back to discover more hidden treasures soon.

Changing Faces

“So, what type of photography do you like?” a friend asked me the other day and without flinching a brow I replied “Landscape”. He then prompted to ask, “so what landscape work have you done recently?” and that's when the uh’s and um’s followed.

The thing is, I’ve always known that I like landscape photography, ask my boyfriend and he’ll say the same. I have a great love and appreciation for mother nature, how every sunrise and sunset is never the same. The way the seasons change, and after last night’s rain, Jo’burg will be alive with vivid colours and the city overview will no longer have that dust covered dreary grey all over. I like going out of the city, leaving the closely built concrete structures behind and watching the scenery roll by. That’s what attracted me to landscape initially and after going through different course options, I’ve always known that Landscape will be one of my focal point of study. Or will it?

The thing is though, I've hardly go to scenic views and haven't had interaction with pretty flowers as much as I would love to and because of this, I’ve had to look closer to home for inspiration, and that's how my appreciation for Still Life began. After all, its forced me to look at everything from a new perspective.

What about People/Portrait? Well, I had this idea for a 30 day challenge about a month and a half ago: creating a photo essay and interview “random” people about a specific topic. This would force me to go out there while combating my discomfort of interacting with people. Well, that idea is still in my notebook and yet to be executed.

Speaking of people/portrait photography, I’ve generally never been into it, that is until I came across a documentary called “Annie Leibovitz: A life through the lens”. It got me to reconsider my stance, after all, she has captured some of the most iconic and most memorable photographs and she worked for Rolling Stone Magazine in the ’70. Let me not get started about the ’70’s and the impact of that era's music both abroad and here in S.A. For some odd reason, that documentary made me want to capture different faces in black and white while listening to John Lennon’s ‘Power to the People’.

Another thing I enjoy is attending live music events and checking out bands, that creates an opportunity to do 2 things I love at the same time. Speaking of live music events, Cool Runnings Fourways, one of the very few surviving live music venues in Johannesburg is currently in danger of being shut down by the municipality, or rather they just want the venue to stop the live entertainment. There’s an online petition that can be signed but the best thing one can do is to stop by the venue and sign the physical petition while waiting for the Witkoppen traffic to ease up. Lets save Cool Runnings! After all, if bands can't play live because all the venues have been closed down, how will they grow as performers and musicians?

Back to the topic, what photography do I like? I think its better to be honest with myself and admit that what used to excite me yesteryear may not move me as much today. For example: I used to loathe fashion and design but now I’m learning more about croquis and fashion sketching (yeah I know). There’s a part of me that’s not a huge fan of weddings and can’t imagine  spending hours at such an event while another part of me has movies like ‘The Wedding Planner’ and ‘The Wedding Singer’ in their top 20 most watched list.  

Hence the exploration, its okay to try out different things, I might even like sports photography one day (doubt it but we’ll see). I'm glad I received the question, it made me think. The lesson from this is that if we stick to only one thing, we'll never grow, learn and discover anything. 

I would have always looked at plants, water, hills and mountains and such instead of appreciating the smaller (and bigger) things. 

Hello October: a month of EXPLORATION and a month of POSSIBILITY.