ICON MAGAZINE

The famous design rag from London asked me to photograph the city and include the controversial stadium. There they are, arranged neatly for das Camera.

I needed some sense of scale in the middle ground, so when an unsuspecting dog walker cruised past I gave her the large-format crash course.

'When I whistle depress this stalk, ok?'
'Ok'

Don't believe the hype. Large format is a piece of piss.

My dog is there as well. Looking back at the camera, returning the 'mechanised gaze' of the big boner camera which is shafting the entire city bowl.

Cressida is a woman dog so everything will be fine.

Ponte Tower

Since I began to take heed of SA photographic culture, and what the newspapers detailed, I have been aware of Ponte Towers. The dark column has a long been used as a speaker through which to tell of Johannesburg's ills.

I was commissioned by Das Magazine to work there for 3 days.

It's been sanitised and is a pretty pleasant place in which to work if you do not mind heights.

The towers have been photographed as nauseam and are a cliche nowadays. I am much happier with the portraits I made, than I am with the structural work.

...and this.

I am on it. What does this mean?

The press release and the work in question:

1. 1910-2010: From Pierneef to Gugulective

Opens 15 April until mid-September

This large exhibition, which occupies the entire Gallery, showcases the history and diversity of modern and contemporary South African art from the time of the formation of the Union of South Africa a century ago to the present.

The exhibition covers the period when modern South African art started to articulate itself in relation to the rest of the world. The selection, primarily from the Iziko South African National Gallery permanent collection is supplemented by works on loan from other public and corporate collections around the country. Audiences can look forward to modern gems and rare treasures by Gerard Sekoto, Irma Stern, George Pemba, Maggie Laubser, Gerard Bhengu, JH Pierneef, Durant Sihlali and Dumile Feni. The exhibition acknowledges important developments in local art history such as Polly Street, Rorke’s Drift, DRUM magazine,
Resistance Art, and the rise of South Africa’s energetic contemporary art scene.

A rare overview of South African art. Don’t miss it!

theviewer.fr

A polite Frenchman call Yann Linsart has contacted me and wants to publish my N1 series on his www called theviewer.fr.

Thank you Yann.

Palomino again.

I am in the Palomino motel listening to NICO and reconciling myself with the decision to avoid the work which I need to do. I travelled(drove) 800 kms on my own, it's okay to have reconciliatory thoughts.

NICO has such a crap voice, but her delivery is so sincere. The pan flutes in the background give the sense of a short, bright, white flash.

Track 7 is fucking great. 'Ev reeee body will help yooo, some people are very kind...'

'Come on, give it to me....'

ICON

ICON, the London-based design magazine have commissioned me to make some photographs of the new FIFA stadium in Cape Town.

Here is the shot I like the most from an unsuccessful day's work.

Click on it. It's beautiful.

They won't like this photograph. I have a sneaking suspicion.

Two old newspaper articles on the photographer.

The 'modest and mature' phase

See below

Warwick Triangle

For the most part of my career as a photographer I have been making work in the vicinity of Warwick Street/Grey Street in Durban.

These 3 shots were made about 6 years ago and fall between the small format phase and a more 'modest and mature' large-format phase. They were made with a Mamiya 7 range-finder.

Robben Island

This room is where the Apartheid Police forged letters to prisoners, amongst other things. The Mother Fuckers.

Apparently a prisoner received a letter from his wife to say that she was longer in love with him, but in love with another man, and had left the struggle. The letter was penned in writing forged in order to resemble that of the man's wife.

The scan is a rough one.

South Korea

I have been invited to return to SK for a 3 months on the strength of the proposal which I list here. The object is to produce a book on a curious village called 'Pension Town'.

PT is a themed American village with Cape Cod esque wooden houses, a FAMILY MART, and a baseball net. Rich SKs(it's mondo expensive to hire a complex for the weekend) come for weekends and seem to emulate American activities by day, and get drunk at night.

This shot of a car under a tarp by R. Frank is the point of departure for explaining the theoretical underpinnings of the work. I found a similarly veiled vehicle(probably a Hyundai) at PT.