The Haven Night Shelters

I've been asked many times how I decide on the charities I choose to offer my services.  Some arrive at my doorstep, some I've heard about and sometime I ask friends and people that I meet which charity is close to their hearts.  This one is for a good friend Pieter Basson, who's asked me a couple of times to work with the Haven Shelter in Cape Town.

Hassan Khan Chief Executive Officer

I met with the managing director Hassan Khan and his assistant Waheeda.  Hassan took the time to explain their concept, aim and mission which is truly exciting!  We decided to initiate a campaign that Hassan been wanting to do for a couple of years already. 'Spot the homeless'.  The idea is to create a campaign of awareness.  Where people can identify, relate and realize how close to home this could be.  Anyone can be homeless, it takes one bad decision, one wrong move.  So I started to project of capturing the entire Haven community, from the Board members, the staff, residents as well as visiting the old age home.

The Haven believes that no one should be living on our streets. There comes a stage in the downward path of certain human beings at which point, they literally can no longer help themselves. At that point someone has to step in and give them a lift; that is what THE HAVEN tries to do.

- The Haven Night Shelters

Donovan Murphy - Client

The aim is to create opportunities for adults living on the streets that are committed to reintegration, by supplying temporary shelter, physical care, rehabilitation opportunities and social welfare services.  Alongside this they try to reduce the opportunities to continue life on the streets by also promoting community awareness and encourage the public to alleviate the social problems that arise.

Sheila Jacobs - Manager

Fieldworkers hit the streets to encourage people to get of the streets and go back home.  Sometimes the process of getting them back to their loved ones are not that easy and this is where a shelter like the Haven steps in, by actively trying to find the person’s family by any means possible and when the integration is not wanted by either party, closely working with a social worker to start the process.

Angelique Coakley - Client

Benedict Alexander - Board Member

Now the Haven is also very aware that giving beds and food to all the homeless in the Western Cape is an impossible task.  Also the plan is to empower these people the they can get off the streets, out of a shelter and back on their own feet again.  When a homeless person arrives at the shelter, he/she is a guest.  They are welcome to stay and eat and make up their minds about the shelter in 5 days.  After that, decisions have to be made.  If they wish to stay at the Haven they have to start working for their bed and start with a social program. 

Antoinette Meiring - Social Worker Supervisor

The Haven are not giving people fish but teaching them to fish.  Getting homeless people to take responsibility for their own lives and taking the power back into their own hands.

Buy a Bed!  The Haven Nights Shelters started a campaign where people can buy beds for homeless people who wishes to be guests at the shelter.

Or contact Hassan or Waheeda for more information on how to get involved:

+27 (21) 425 4700

info@haven.org.za

https://www.haven.org.za

The History of Photography - Black & White Development

As it is the beginning of the year and I have not yet covered this subject in one of my blogs, I have decided to give you a brief History of Photography.  As we have come so far in the last 2 centuries, I will have to break this into 3 parts.  Concentrating on the development of basic photography, analogue black and white firstly.  Then I'll give you a idea of how colour photography developed and lastly I'll jump into the development of the Digital Age...

Understanding Photography

To find the beginning of photography we have to look at what photography is.  It is capturing light onto a durable 2 dimensional form, this can be on a copper plate or on a digital screen.  Now to understand photography we have to understand light.  Light is reflected off surfaces and objects and captured by the rods and cones on the retina at the back of our eyes. In photography we capture the same light and make a permanent representation of this reflected light.

The Philosophy

So if you look at photography as a science and an understanding of light you realize that it already started in the 5th-4th Century BC with the Greek and Chinese Philosophers when they started to describe the basic principles of light and optics.  Founder of Mohism, Mo Zi contributed in basic concepts of linear optics, the straight line propagation of light and refraction of light, explaining the inverted image nature of an image in camera obscura.  While Aristotle explained how a ray passing through a hole would project an image of whatever comes in it’s path on the opposite wall.

Mo Zi

The Science

Then a basic understanding of the nature of light and optics developed with Leonardo Da Vinci discovering the use of lenses to create sharper images and Hans Lippershey that created the first telescope in 1608.  The telescope might seem far removed but that is exactly what a camera is.  It uses convex and concave lenses to bend and manipulate light to enhance clarity  and visibility.  Our modern understanding of light and colour started when Newton refracted a ray of light into a spectrum of light.  Proving that white light is composed of different colours of light.

Capturing light temporarily

In 1727, Johan Heinrich Schulze discovered that the darkening of various substances when mixed with silver nitrate is due to light and not heat as previously believed.  He also used this phenomenon to temporarily capture shadows.  He found a way to capture light but if wasn’t permanent.  After him Thomas Wedgewood and Humphry Davy were able to beduse more substantial but still temporary shadow images on coated paper and leather around 1800.

View from the Window at Le Gras - Nicephore Niepce

Making it permanent

In 1816 Nicephore Niepce was able to photograph camera images on paper coated with silver chloride, but was also unable to make it light fast and the image had to be exposed for 8 hours. It was only in 1835 that Willian Fenry Fox Talbot created the first successful camera photographs using paper sensitized with silver chloride. As he created a negative to reproduce, the exposure time was n hour or more to create a suitable negative.

Photography becomes public

After Sir John Herschel coined the term photography in 1839, the French Artist Louis Daguerre invented the ‘Daguerreotype’ process of photography.   The Daguerreotype is the process of using a sheet of silver plated copper, exposed through a camera to light, resulting a latent image.  This latent image will be made visible by fuming it with mercury vapor and removing it’s light sensitivity by a liquid chemical treatment.  It was the first photographic process that was available publicly, needed less than 30 minutes exposure and most commonly used for nearly 20 years.

In 1841 Talbot introduced the calotype or talbotype to the public, which used paper instead of metal sheets, but it did not displace the daguerreotype. Although the Calotype was the first negative-positive process, giving you the possibility to reproduce the image, it created a less clear image than the daguerreotype.  The use of paper as a negative was not ideal as the texture and fibres were visible on the prints made.

Salt print from a glass collodion negative - The J. Paul Getty Museum

Speeding it up

Ten year later the invention of the Collodion process offered clearer images with 2-3 second exposures.  This technique was invented by Englishman Frederick Scott Archer.  A glass plate was coated with silver iodide and exposed in a camera while still wet.  After which it was developed and fixed to create a clear detailed negative.  These negatives still needed to be developed immediately as it became waterproof when dry.

George Eastman, founder of Kodak

And then there was Kodak...

Richard Leach Maddox invented the gelatin dry plate silver bromide process in 1871, which allowed negatives not to be developed immediately.  Before long the emulsion could be coated on celluloid roll film.  This is where George Eastman invented flexible, paper-based photographic film in 1884, popularizing the use of film and making photography more mainstream.  He was the founder of the Eastman Kodak Company.  In 1888 he perfected the Kodak Black camera, the first camera to house a roll of film.

After establishing a stable portable and affordable photographic process, people now wanted colour...  

Herselman Family through the 'ages'

This is going to be the first time I'm writing a very personal blog that is not directed to my philosophies on photography or research or inspirations, but about why I think it is important to take family portraits regularly. 

As a family we used to get together every couple of months for a family picture.  Usually after church as that was the only time my sister and I would look semi decent according to my mom.  My dad would set up his Pentax Spotmatic F in the sitting room and we would all squeeze onto the little couch.  I still remember the sound of the timer and the loud shutter.  We used to dread those Sundays but it was quick and painless, two shots and we hope for the best!  

Now we treasure those images as it tells us about a stage in our lives that we might've wanted to forget.  When everyone thought you were a boy because of your hair.  Or when you had braces and did't know how to smile.  You see your dads hair getting less and your mom's glasses getting smaller.  You see the change in style and the change in attitude.  But you see the thread quite prominently, the bond, the love that you share for each other that would not be destroyed with a disagreement, distance or any bad hair day!

The year is drawing to an end and this is the time that we start turning our attention to our families again.  Although we know our attention should be on the family through the whole year, we struggle to stick to this.  Life gets busy, work is demanding and we can't keep all the balls in the air at once.

What happens if we drop a ball?  What happens if you've lost your job or had a massive fight with a good friend or broke up with the girlfriend?  Who is there to pick up the pieces and have been there for as long as you can remember?  It's your family, may it be your wife or your child, your sister or your father, even your dog.  Doesn't matter if they give you some good advice or just give you a loving hug.

Through the year we tend to forget about this very important support structure, the safe space that we take for granted.  We live in a unpredictable world.  We have no idea what will happen tomorrow, who will be taken from us and who might be left behind.  My father passed away very suddenly less than 4 years ago, and now that last picture of the four of us is the most valuable shot my Canon at that time has ever taken.   

We can't afford to let these moments pass us without acknowledging the importance.  Take the time this festive season to reconnect and to appreciate what you have.  You'll miss it when it's gone, believe me...

Chaeli Campaign

Last month I had the privilege to meet Chaeli Mycroft from the Chaeli Campaign.  She is such an inspiration and had such a beautiful energy, that you walk away from a conversation with her feeling optimistic and energised, ready to take on any challenge!  I got introduced to Zelda, Chaeli's mother and she was too happy to make use of my services.  We decided to photograph the children in the preschool as gift for their parents as well as portraits of the staff that works the magic day to day.

Majdi from Chaeli Cottage Preschool

The amazing thing is that the Chaeli campaign was started by five young girls, aged between 6 and 12.  Chaeli and her sister, Erin along with their friends, Tarryn, Justine and Chelsea, all sisters, started the campaign to raise R20 000 for Chaeli's motorised wheelchair.  This they did by selling cards and Sunshine Pots, which are DIY miniature pot plants.  The cards displayed artworks of Erin and Chaeli and is still available.

Because there was such a great interest and support the campaign just get growing organically.  The aim is to is to change the life of one disabled child at a time in a significant way.  This through the following initiatives:

• Therapies Programme - Regular physiotherapy, speech and occupational therapy sessions in several communities around Cape Town.
• Assistive Devices Programmes - Custom-made assistive devices to improve posture and functional use of hands and fingers.
• Inclusive Education - ECD (Early Childhood Development) inclusive programme for disadvantaged communities as well as support children with disabilities in mainstream schools.

Zelda Mycroft, CEO and mother of Chaeli

"Our Vision is to mobilise the minds and bodies of children with disabilities and to normalise society through advocacy and education programmes and events."

Leigh from Chaeli Cottage Preschool

I met the amazing children of the Chaeli Cottage Preschool and Enrichment Centre with Debbie Prudromme.  It smelled of cooked and was filled with laughter.  It is an inclusive Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centre in Plumstead.  They currently have 16 children - a beautiful group of children with disabilities learning and playing side by side with able bodied children.

Tlholo from Chaeli Cottage Preschool

To get involved with the Preschool, visit the Chaeli Campaign website, you can become a pledge partner or even offer to sponsor a child at school.  Contact Debbie for more information.

Zanele Muholi - Somnyama Ngonyama

The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa opened at the Grain Silo Complex at the V&A Waterfront.  Zeitz MOCAA is a public not-for-profit art museum which collects, preserves, researches and exhibits 21st century art from African and its Diaspora.  The aim is to guarantee access for all allowing South Africa's free access on Wednesdays from 10h00 to 13h00 and free access on Museum nights from 17h00 to 22h00.  The museum stretches over 9 floors and houses over 100 galleries.

Even if you're not an art lover, just to see how these silos were transformed is an experience in its own.  But this is not a blog about the Zeitz MOCAA and it architectural brilliance or the vast collection of exquisite (and questionable) art but about some inspiration that stirred my artist heart:

Zanele Muholi - Bona, Charlottesville, 2015

Somnyama Ngonyama/Hail the Dark Lioness is a exhibition by Zanele Muholi of black and white photographs on silver gelatine.  In this body of work Muholi turns the camera on herself to as she depicts various personas in different part of the world.  She engages in issues of race, politics and gender, drawing from personal experiences to create a very personal body of work.

Muholi started this body of work in 2014 with the aim to create 365 shots.  In a interview with the Gaussian the stated: 'You live as a black person for 365 days, there are a lot of events and experiences that up go through in a year.  I wanted to map those important or specific moments'

Some of her work delves into very personal experiences like Julile I, where the inflated plastic bags represent the large fibroids she had removed from her uterus.   While other pieces comment out South Africa and it's history and troubles.

Zanlele Muholi - Julile I, Parktown Johannesburg, 2016

Zanele Muholi is a self proclaimed visual activist.  She was born in Durban and now lives in Johannesburg.  She co-founded the Forum for Empowerment of Women (FEW) in 2002 and in 2009 founded Inkanyiso, a forum for queer and visual (activist) media.  

Her mission - "To re-write a black queer and trans visual history of South Africa for the world to know of our resistance and the existence at the height of hate crimes in SA and beyond.

Muholi studies Advanced Photography at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg, and in 2009 completed an MFA: Documentary Media at Ryerson University, Toronto.  She is an Honorary Professor at the University of the Arts Bremen and continues to train and co-facilitate photography workshops for young women in the townships.

As I walked through Muholi's exhibition I was firstly blown away by the beautiful printing and the beautiful way she captured light.  But I also felt like I was allowed into a world that I have not experienced.  And while there is a continuous theme of enduring pain, there is also a a strength and defiance in her eyes.

Zanele Muholi - Somnyama Ngonyama II, Oslo, 2015

Xola Educare

I met Vivian Mthwesi while working on a project for CTO.  Vivian runs a preschool in Khayelitsha.  She asked me to help with taking picture of the kids for graduation.  She was such an inspiration in her approach to educate and to guide.

Vivian started by opening her home to 7-9 children in 2008 and now she's accommodating40-70 children between the ages of 1-6 years.  With the help of her family, Vivian dreams to develop the school through sustainability.

As preschools do not reach the governmental standard of requirements, Non Profit Organisations have to step in to cover this very important phase in a childs life.

In Khayelitsha alone, there are more than 400 preschools for Grade R, and only 50 of them get financial support from the government.  Now if you also consider children younger than 6 and put that into the calculation, you realise what a great need there is.

Vivian concentrates on teaching all the kids to be able to communicate in English so the have a head start when going to school.  Also she accepts all races and cultures under her roof, making the kids used to living in a rainbow nation in peace and acceptance.

To get involved:

Vivian Mthwesi - 071 814 0120

CTO - sofia@cto.world

Smartphone Portrait : Smart move?

In the past month I have come across too many people admitting their profile portraits on their website were shot with a smartphone. Also there was no shame or guilty look in their eyes! 

Can you take a good portrait using a smartphone?

Personally I don't think this is possible, and as this is my subjective view, I will have to explain myself using what I believe to be a good portrait as a framework. A good portrait should make the subject look good and make the viewer want to engage.

How do you make someone look good? They already look great you just have to harvest that light correctly to represent them in the best way possible, and this is where the technical bits come in.

Technicalities - The Lens

The focal length of the camera in your smartphone ranges from 25mm to 31mm, this depends on the length of the lens and the size of the sensor. This is a prime lens so when you zoom in it actually just magnifies and crops this image and won't change the focal length, loosing quality in the process. This focal length is equivalent to a wide-angle lens when you compare it to a DSLR camera. These lenses are used to allow more of the environment to be captured within one image. Think of standing in a small room and being able to get more of your peripheral view into the picture. It bends the light to be able to do this and in turn will distort objects, making an object closer to the lens appear larger than usual. Now take this into consideration when taking a close up portrait of someone, that normal nose will become larger than life… Using a 70mm-100mm is considered ideal for portraiture, as this will get rid of lens distortion, creating a more flattering image and allow a bit of space between you and your subject, which would be less intimidating.

Depth-of-Field and Selective Focus

Canon 5d mkii, 50mm @f1.4

A longer lens in collaboration with the right aperture will also allow selective focus. Depth of field refers to the depth of an image that will be in focus. Wide lenses have a greater depth of field, allowing everything to be in focus while a longer lens will have a selective focus. So, when taking a portrait of someone where the subject is in focus and the background is blurry, the attention will stay on the subject. Or when doing close up's you can concentrate on the eyes for an engaging, intimate effect.

Proof in comparison

In the comparison you can easily see the distortion and the difference in depth, but now you can argue "He's not smiling!". With the iPhone I had to get very close to get the right crop while I was at a comfortable distance with the DSLR. 'Invading' the sitter space will effect the way the subject will react to the photographer. Niall was much more confortable when I took a step back. There is also a shift in confidence that I've noticed on many occasions when you pull out the 'big guns'.

iPhone5, default lense, automatic

Canon 5d mark ii, 70mm f4 @ 1/400

iPhone 4

What about the iPhone7 Portrait Mode?

Now the iPhone 7 with its portrait function is trying to replicate this effect. It uses a dual-camera system to create a faux depth of field effect with a Gaussian blur to simulate this effect. It houses a 28mm as well as a 56mm equivalent lens. This gets close to simulating the depth you can achieve with a wide lens so could work well with environmental portraits but not headshots and will not come close to what you can achieve with a proper portrait lens.

Capturing the light

Lastly from a technical point of view, I just want to touch on light. Smartphones have proven themselves very capable of capturing natural light, so when studio is not involved, the smartphone can be seen as an equal. Here the photographer has to take responsibility of understanding light and how it effects it's subject. Top lit will create shadows under the eyes, incandescent lighting will give a yellow hue while under lit situations will create dark eyes and unflattering skin.

The Connection

Getting to the second part of the framework, we can strip the photographer from all it's fancy camera's lights and equipment because in the end we're sitting with two people, a sitter and a photographer, an interaction and in the end a collaboration. Phillip Prodger, Head of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery said it so well:

"In the best portraits a spark flies from sitter to maker to viewer, a synapse firing between us. We can try to describe it, but its real effects are subcutaneous."

By Phillip Prodger

What is a good Portrait?

A portrait are not a mere likeness to the sitter, if that was the case everyone with a good lens or smartphone could be a great portraitist. As Phillip mentioned there is a connection between the sitter and the photographer that gets captured and carried to the viewer. What a good portrait is, will differ from person to person, some people wants vulnerability to be able to connect, some needs mystery to engage, some will need power to be challenged. To me these are all true, the most important thing is that the viewer want to engage with the sitter, to get to know or to understand.

What is a portrait but a visual representation of who you are and what you stand for. When someone is looking at a picture of you, there is no background dialog that explains your view, morals, passions or fears. Even a great portrait will not be able to communicate all of this, but a portrait should be able to spark an interest of wanting more: "I want to get to know this person" or " I want to work with this person" You can probably take an okay picture with your cell phone but then are we really striving for mediocrity?

Contribution To Opportunities

I was introduced to Mapanya Sogoni through Frida Vesterberg from Project Playground. I did a bit of research and listned to his TED talk and was immediately inspired by this dynamic man. He is Operations Manager of CTO. I met with him and Co-Founder Sofia Johansson to offer my services and very excitedly she asked me if I will create a little clip to explain the mission and Vision of CTO.

"Through wisdom we shall grow"

By Vivian - CTO

CTO is a capacity building organisation for social entrepreneurs and their initiatives for children and youth. Their Vision is to see initiatives, for children and youth, grow into sustainable organisations with good governance and financial transparency.

Their mission is to recognise and invest in trustworthy, pre-existing initiatives in disadvantaged communities, thus establishing true change for the people involved through Sustainability, Maintainability and Independency.

"It all started in March 2014 when Sofia and Jasmina - Swedish students of the University of Karlstad working on their master thesis in working life science and visiting Cape Town for a few weeks - by chance ended up in Khayelitsha, a township with approximately two million people in the outskirts of Cape Town. Luckily they met Vivian who invited them to her home and told them about Xola Educare she had set up there and the challenges she was facing. Inspired by Vivian's dedication and seeing an opportunity to contribute to an existing local initiative, CTO was born."

CTO recognize individuals who show an entrepreneurial side, a clear vision of an initiative, got a drive, passion, pride, heart. These are the characteristics of a change agent for which we provide the platform, support and tools to become sustainable and independent.

To get involved, please contact:
Contribution To Opportunities
+27 (0)61 409 4811
Info@cto.world
Siseko Community Centre
No 91 Ny 43
Guguletu
Cape Town
7750
or Visit their website

SAYes transition mentoring

It's lovely when the universe conspires, so this month the NGO came to me. A good friend asked if I would be interested in offering my services to the NGO she is involved with. After a quick chat and a look at their website, I decided this is an organisation that I would love to work with.

SAYes is a non-profit organization that train and support volunteer to mentor vulnerable young people. Gillian Anderson and Michelle Potter founded the organization for you people living in children's homes in South Africa in 2008.

"South Africa can't afford not to inspire new leaders of social change. We train and support mentors to improve the impact of programmes for vulnerable young people - tractably, sustainably and at scale."

- By SAYes Mentoring

Their purpose is to inspire and inform leaders of social change through mentoring. They're aim is to improve social impact, reducing social inequality and creating and supporting youth programmes to do good, better.

"We think of social change as something you want to do with your time. So we offer a professional and personalised service to help you do it well."  

 - SAYes Mentoring

SAYes also facilitate and support social initiatives like first time career opportunities for young people with mentor guidance to make a visible impact. Also including many youth programmes and services run by non-profits and government. These programmes are well researched and aim to improve independence and well-being, creating youth that are able to make informed choices and follow healthy practices.

The team of support specialists is trained counselors, educators, coaches and social workers that coordinates information, resources and opportunities among the partners, volunteers and programmes. Their purpose is to "ignite opportunities for social change by providing a professional and personalised service to each mentor-mentee match".

TRANSITION MENTORING PLATFORM

All SAYes and SAYes affiliated programmes are run on the Transition to Independent Living (TIL) platform managed by SAYes. TIL relies on mentorship along with cross-sector collaboration, digital infrastructure, and nested support to optimise meaningful transitions. TIL includes:

• Recruitment and screening of volunteer mentors including local and international police clearance and background checks.
• Volunteer fit evaluation based on a comprehensive online application and interview.
• Transition mentorship training (for both mentors and mentees) focused on mentoring and strategic planning for personal transition.
• Youth population training focused on working with different groups of young people in context.
• Placement on a SAYes or SAYes affiliated programme designed to support a specific youth population by providing evidence-based curricula and/or services.
• Facilitated mentor-mentee matching using credible psychometric tools.
• Transition mentoring face-to-face with a young person for 1 hour per week for 9 months.
• Online transition tools, software and resources to support transition planning.
• Business partners providing mentored youth with career opportunities and resources (products or services).
• Non-profit partners providing mentored youth with access to additional programmes and services.
• Drop-in sessions in a particular field or area.
• Programme support specialists providing monitoring, transition and social work services to each mentor-mentee match.

There are many groups of vulnerable young people that could benefit from transition mentoring. SAYes affiliated programmes work with these groups using our transition platform. SAYes manages all TIL platform services for affiliated programmes, including the training and support of volunteer mentors, while the programme curricula and/or services are provided by the non-profit partner.

To get involved, please contact:
SAYes Mentoring
+27 (0)21 830 0795
volunteer@sa-yes.com
c/o Brickfield Call Centre
35 Brickfield Road
Woodstock
Cape Town
7925
or Visit their website

Respect: Annie Leibovitz

I've been drawn to the portraits of Annie Leibovitz since I was introduced to her work in college. At that stage I did not quite know what was the fascination and why I found her portraits so powerful. As I started to develop my own style and noticed what is important to me in a portrait, I realized it was the honesty that seems to emanate from her subjects.

"A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people."

By Annie Leibovitz

Early life and Rolling Stone

Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz was born in the States on 2nd of October 1949. She was doing night classes in photography while studying painting at San Francisco Art Institute. She continued to develop her skill while holding on to several jobs until she started working for Rolling Stone Magazine in 1970 as staff photographer. Three year later the became chief photographer and continued to work with the magazine for 10 year and shot 142 covers.

Capturing a relationship

One of the first pictures I remember was the one of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The picture was taken on December 8, 1980 and was the last professional photograph taken before John was assassinated hours later. Leibovitz explains that when John stripped down and Yoko didn't want to take her pants off she suggested to keep everything on. John automatically curled up next to her and this powerful image was created.

 

 

"When I say I want to photograph someone, what it really means is that I'd like to know them. Anyone I know I photograph."

By Annie Leibovitz

Vanity Fair and Vogue

Leibovitz joined Vanity Fair in 1983 and became known for her wildly lit, staged and provocative portraits of celebrities. Woopy Goldberg submerged in water and nude and pregnant Demi Moore being great examples. She created a comprehensive body of work, including actors, athletes, writers, musicians and politicians to make up a collective portrait of contemporary culture and intellectual life. Later she started to contribute for Vogue as well and in 1991 she mounted an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, making her the second living person and first woman to be exhibited by the institution. In addition to her magazine editorial work, Leibovitz has created several award-winning advertising campaigns, including the Got Milk camoaign and the Walt Disney, Year of a Million Dreams She's published many book and exhibitions of her photographs have appeared in museums and galleries all over the world. And to me one of her most powerful recent work is the 2016 Perelli 2016 where her interpretation created a beautiful, powerful collection of portraits of unique, independent woman of our time.

In a way Leibovitz can be seen as the photographer to the stars and her work can be very dramatic and highly styled but there is still a mix of intimacy and posturing. There is depth and humanity visible in each and every subject and that is the true art of a portrait. According to Leibovits we never get more than a tiny slice of our subject but that tiny slice transcends past the two-dimensional medium it's displayed upon and touches you mind and your heart.

Psychology of the portrait

As a portrait photographer I continuously get into the situation where I meet clients that either hate photographs of themselves or dread getting their photograph taking because they are "un-photogenic" or "always look horrible in pictures". Often when I show them quickly on the camera what I think is a great shot, they shy away from what they believe is a "terrible shot". Why do we have this idea, why can we not face a picture of ourselves? I decided to explore what happens in the brain to explain this.

The Magnificent Brain

We know from perceptual science, a lot of what we perceive the world to be is pulled from memory. If you look at a logo, you glance at it, but you know what it looks like something gets pulled out of memory and that what you see. The brain can understand an image in milliseconds and make decisions on that information in under a second. As the brain gets introduced to a situation, millions of neurons are firing to process and analyze the given raw material. Interestingly the brain finds shortcuts to process quicker, quicker is better than perfect. This is where the brain starts using previous experience and memory to make sense of the massive amount of information it receives every minute.

Mirror Mirror on the wall...

Now let's think of ourselves, how do we perceive ourselves, what is the map, where do we draw our information? It's the mirror…and what do you see in the mirror? You! An exact image of you… but in reverse. You have a very unique view as only you see yourself like this. Now we know that everyone is asymmetrical. Thus every picture that you see of yourself differs from what you have in memory.

We can say that you suffer from uncanny valley. This, in aesthetics refers to the feeling of eeriness or revulsion when presented with a human replica that appears to be human but not exactly. Examples can be found in robotics, 3d animation and lifelike dolls among others. Think of the wax figures at Madame Tussauds or the super realism of the movie Final Fantasy.

Now the theory is that when we see a picture of ourselves it almost have the same effect, it looks almost right, but not quite. Subconsciously we pick up on the little asymmetries that don't match what we're used to and so we dislike the image.

Emotional lateralization and left gaze bias

So each side of our face looks different but we also need to take emotional lateralization into consideration. This is the asymmetrical representation of emotional control and processing in the brain. A variety of scientific studies have shown asymmetrical activations when thinking of emotions, viewing emotional situations etc. and production of facial expressions appear to be asymmetric as well. Although this is very interesting, these are theories and is still being studied.

Interesting study that I found last month was about experiments on dogs and how they read emotions of humans. Then I came across the concept of the left gaze bias. While viewing faces, an adult human often demonstrates a natural gaze towards the left. So the right side of the person they're interacting with will often be inspected first and for longer periods. So just quickly the interesting bit is that dogs demonstrates the same left gaze, but only when presented with a human face and not to dog faces. So taking into consideration that our emotions are express asymmetrical and we tend to look at the right side of someone face more often if you're presented with an invert of that face, things gets interesting…

A study was conducted in the 1970s by researchers Theodore Mita, Marschall Dermer and Jeffrey Knight, where they asked participants to choose between two images of themselves, one of their actual face and the other a mirror image. They were also shown images of friends and family, real and mirror. In these studies they found people having a preference over a mirror image of themselves and the real image of their friend. Showing that they're actually not familiar with the real image of themselves.

Now you can test this with images of yourself and your friends. See which ones you prefer and which ones your family and friends prefer. You might notice that what you prefer will differ from them, so maybe consider trusting them next time as they know what you really look like!

The image of SELF...

But we're not only looking at the way the brain processes the raw material but also a view of ourselves. A study by Amber Story in 1998 has shown that our ability to remember feedback depends on whether that feedback is congruent with our own self-esteem. Also a study by Nicholas Epley and Erin Whitchurch published in 2008 suggested that people recognize their own faces as being more attractive than they are. In these experiments participant's faces were made more or less attractive using a morphing procedure. Such enhancement bias was correlated with implicit measures of self-worth but not with explicit measures, consistent with this variety of the enhancement being a relative automatic rather than deliberative process.

So just quickly to take the populatity of the selfie into consideration. It is basically the same as the mirror, creates a reverse image of you, that can be controlled according to your spesifications. That's why we love it! It captures the exact same thing as you'll find in the mirror. A photograph that is controlled by you at close proximity.

What I have noticed in my work is that people who tend to see themselves in photographs more often are much more comfortable with being confronted with the inverse of what they're used to. They brain is a fantastic thing and in a way it can be trained to accept and appreciate both version of YOU.

Project Playground

I found Project Playground online and was very excited with the work they are doing. Creating an outlet for children and youth to better their education, to create a safe space for them and to develop their skills while keeping them away from bad influences.

When I got into contact with Frida to offer my services, she was very excited but had a different request to what I usually do. She asked if we could rather than take headshots of the staff, we offer a family portrait to each staff member which Project Playground will print and gift to each team member. Because I believe that family portraits are essencial and knowing that it's a luxury not everyone can enjoy, it was an immediate YES from my side.

"The desire to start Project Playground is based on a conviction of every child's right to safety, to freedom of expression, and to develop to their best ability. We wanted to create a sustainable way of shaping the future of children and youth, one by one, by investing in and empowering people. I consider myself lucky to be able to work with the rights of children, and to hopefully leave a legacy of developing communities by sustainable impact rather than charity."

- Frida Vesterberg

"With good role models we foster individuals and cope with problems where society fails"

By Project Playground

Project Playground is a Swedish non-profit organization aiming to improve the life opportunities of children and youth through organised social activities and sports with focus on the individual. They are politically and religiously independent and has The UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child as our starting-point. 

Project Playground was founded in 2010 by Princess Sofia, at the time Sofia Hellqvist, and Frida Vesterberg, two driving spirits joined together by the idea of an organization that makes a difference, for real. They both travelled to several countries in Africa, including South Africa, Ghana and Senegal, where they visited and participated in non-profit work with different organizations and projects. They noticed and were surprised by the fact that a lot of the organizations often lacked focus on the individual as well as a holistic perspective surrounding the child and its needs. They saw that focus was on costs and obstacles instead of on possibilities and potential. When Sofia and Frida met in 2009, they both wanted to start an organization that put the child first and with a locally based operation tinged with quality over quantity. Project Playground was founded. 

I met Frida in Langa gear with camera, backdrop and lights and we headed to St Gabriel's Catholic Church in Gugulethu. Everyone was ready and excited and they boys were just to happy to help me carry my gear and set up our make-shift studio. The rest of the morning I was treated to big smiles and lots of appreciative words. Although I struggled to get some of the little kids to look at me rather than the flashing lights;) We headed to Langa to set up again and capture the rest of the team. This time I was greated by the soccer team which made offloading a breeze. It was such a special day and truly so rewarding to me. Family is so important to me and these moments just make you love your job so much more.

Vision – The Vision of Project Playground is a safe world where every child grows up with a belief in the future and a possibility to influence their own life.

Mission - Their mission is to give children and youth better oppertunities in life through strengthening their personal and social development.

Studies have shown that structured sport- and recreational activities contribute to a positive development of children's and youth's increased motivation, concentration and ambition. A combination of these also increases their self-esteem and self-control. Project Playground believes that the way forward is to be preventative rather than reactive and to focus on the individual in everything we do. Decisions and actions should be based on sustainability and motivate to a positive attitude of life and the people around them.

"Through self-esteem, ambition, self-confidence, responsibility and community people get the tools to influence their own lives. We create opportunities for vulnerable children and youth by strengthening their personal and social development. When you care about your own life and have a positive look on the future, you can break negative patterns and exclusion. Therefore, we work on an individual level with inspiring, motivating and engaging children and youth to seize their inner strength and potential."

- Project Playground

To get involved, please contact:
Project Playground
+27 21 694 1111
infosa@project-playground.org
1 Ndabeni Street
Langa | Cape Town | 7455

St Gabriel's Catholic Church
Bloukrans Rd
Guguletu | Heideveld | 7750 | Cape Town
or Visit their website

Playtime with Mamiya

I'm a very traditional girl in many ways and when it comes to doing personal work I always choose to shoot on film. A friend asked me to take a Maiya C220 out for a test drive as he needed some feedback on the condition of his newly acquired toy. So I grabbed a couple of films and took this beuty out to capture some interesting faces.

Mamiya C220

The Mamiya C220 is a lightweight twin-lens reflex medium format camera that was made in the early 1970s. The top lens is for viewing and the bottom for the light to travel through towards the shutter and behind it the film. The lenses are interchangeble and it makes for an amazing portrait camera. Also with the 120 film size you get amazing quality as expected with a medium format camera.

My first mission was to the old age home in my hometown, where my grandmother used to stay. I met Prof. van Dyk, who used to work at the Huguenot College and gives really good hugs.

Then I met the lady who took charge of the front garden at Silverkruin, Mrs Kotze. She loves gardening, her parrot and has an infectious laugh.

This is a portait of my mom, I admire her for her strength, honesty and beauty. Truly the most amazing woman I know.

Lee is a camera enthusiast and the owner of this Mamiya - the focus on this lense is just amazing. I was using a 100mm with this shot.

On my travels through Graaff Reinet I met, Anton, the owner of the Obesa Nursery. He was an eccentric honest man whom allowed me to capture him in his element. The nursery is exceptional, worth a visit when you're passing by.

This was the first shot I took of Mo, such strong features. For more images of Mo

Primary Science Programme

We always emphasize how important education is and in our country it's been a struggle around every corner. If there is a building and the kids are actually coming to school, also books are available. These are useless without our teachers. Our educators are the most important part of our education system and usually the ones being neglected. Primary Science Programme realized this and with their work in the last 30 years concentrated giving our educators the tools to improve the quality of teaching in South Africa.

"Our projects annually benefit an average of 1200 teachers and over 80 000 children from 130 primary schools, in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape."

- Primary Science Programme

Zorina Dharsey acts as the Director of PSP a registered Trust and a South African non-profit organisation (NPO), governed by a Board of Trustees, and works in the most disadvantaged communities of the Western Cape, South Africa, providing comprehensive and ongoing support to primary school teachers.

 

"The PSP believes that good quality primary education forms the basic building blocks for all learners to succeed and pursue further education and employment opportunities, breaking the cycle of poverty."

- Primary Science Programme

For more than 30 years the Primary Science Programme's work in the professional development of teachers has been driven by commitment, passion, and a 'can-do' attitude towards improving the quality of teaching and learning, particularly in the critical subjects of Maths, Science and Language in some of the poorest and most under-resourced primary schools. They aim build relationships with teachers, and expertly and respectfully respond to their needs with practical teaching strategies, mentoring, and support and provide innovative teaching resources. They believe their approaches and practical methodologies makes the PSP unique, and are key to unlocking the true potential of all of South Africa's children.

Started in 1983, the Primary Science Programme (PSP) is initiated by Mrs. Anne Griffiths and established as a project of the Urban Foundation, Cape Town. Anne had identified critical shortcomings in primary science education in the schools run by the Department of Education and Training, responsible for African education throughout South Africa. During the years of "Bantu Education", African schools had to follow a separate and inferior science syllabus with very poor resources and no equipment provided to schools.

Vision – Excellent primary schooling for all South Africa's children, where all educators are highly skilled, committed and confident, and are well prepared and resourced to teach.

Mission – to improve the quality of teaching and learning of the sciences, language, mathematics and the environment by supporting teachers in their professional development.

"Every activity was useful and fits perfectly with the CAPS curriculum. It showed me a way of making the teaching and learning process more interesting!"

- Firdows Norton Grade 4 at Heideveld Primary School

"Our guiding principles on this journey are: We believe everybody is entitled to quality education. Every teacher should have access to appropriate professional support. We strongly believe in working in a collaborative way."

"PSP's core competencies in the field of primary education are: Our staff are highly qualified specialists in science, language, mathematics and the environment, and are skilled and experienced classroom practitioners. Our approach to working with teachers is inclusive and participative. We understand and are sensitive to the communities and contexts in which we work."

- Primary Science Programme

To get involved, please contact:
Primary Science Programme
+27 21 691 9039
info@psp.org.za
Edith Stephens Nature Reserve
Govan Mbeki Road
Philippi 7785
or Visit their website

Changing with Light

Reflections and Refractions

In my previous blog about light be did a basic exploration of light, why we can see and colour temperature. This was to give you a basic idea of what we're working with in photography, light. If you do not have a good understanding of light and how to get the best out of it, you will spend hours in Photoshop trying to make a mediocre image, acceptable. But if you understand light and use it to your advantage you can capture an ordinary moment and make it spectacular.

When a ray of light hits a surface one or more things can happen, it can reflect off the surface and travel in a different direction, it can pass through the medium and continue on a new straight path or it can be absorbed.

We've touched on visible light combining different wave lengths that bend in a slightly different ways to create different colours. Also how certain wave lengths gets absorbed and some reflected when it hits and object. Now what happens when light passes through a substance, like water, or class, or the lens of your camera?

Refraction of Light

As you know light travels in waves and it travels at a certain speed, 299 792 458 m/s in a vacuum to be exact. This speed varies from one medium to another. When light travels through one medium then another, the speed will change and the path of the light will bend. This is called refraction.

Now take into consideration the angle that the light hits the medium; and if it moves from a denser medium to less or the other way around. You can see this when looking through a glass with water. The light will hit the glass and because it is a different density, will slow down and bend, again when it hits the water and again upon exit, distorting the image.

The Bends?

Now how does this effect your photography? Ok so you can take some interesting distorted portraits through a fish bowl, but the true reason is lenses. The reason why we are able to capture the quality of light we do now is because we use a piece of glass that will bend and concentrate light onto a surface for us to capture. Different combinations and shapes will bend light to our will. Simplest form is a magnifying glass, combine that idea and you have a telescope.

There are two main factors that that determine how much a lens bends the light. The reflective index(n) of a material is how much it slows down the beam. Air being n=1, water n=1.33, glass n=1.5 ect. Then the angle of incidence is the angle at which the light hits the medium, the greater the angle the more the bending. So if you combine these basic principles in convex and concave lenses you'll understand how your lenses have the ability to either magnify what you want to capture or allow you to capture more of a confined space.

“The picture… is but a succession or variety of stronger lights thrown upon one part of the paper, and of deeper shadows on another. Now Light, where it exists, can exert an action.”

- William Henry Fox Talbot

This is a touch on the basics of a very interesting subject. Understanding how light behaves will help you take better pictures. We'll get into focus and different lenses next time, but please contact me if you have any questions.

Saartjie Baartman Centre

This month I decided to approach a the first one-stop centre in the country for women, youth and children who have experienced domestic and / or sexual violence in their lives.

It is still a massive problem in South Africa where woman and children do not have a safe space to escape from what could be an abusive environment at home. It is an unfair situation where woman think it is normal to be treated like they are less and children are sitting in the position that the person that is supposed to protect them is causing them the biggest harm. The Centre doesn't only create a safe space, but also educate these woman and children about their worth and their rights. Truly inspiring.

 

"The Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children (SBCWC ) is a one-stop centre for women and children who are survivors of abuse. Our vision is the creation of a safe and secure society and a human rights culture where women and children are empowered to exercise their full rights."

- Saartjie Baartman Centre

Director, Shaheema McLeod, provides strategic leadership to the Centre. She is responsible for strategic planning for the growth and sustainability of the Centre, for partnership development, fundraising, networking and the replication of similar centres in other parts of the country.

"By naming our centre after Saartjie Baartman, we are remembering and honouring a woman who has become an icon, not only to her own Khoikhoi people, but to all women who know oppression and discrimination in their lives."

By The Saartjie Baartman Centre

If you don't know the story or Saartjie Baartman and why she is such an icon and so relevent, I'll give you the short version. Saartjie Baartman was a Khoikhoi woman born in the Cape Colony in 1789 and was taken to Englang in 1810. She was accompanied by her employer, Hendrik Cesars, and William Dunlop, an English doctor who worked at the Cape slave lodge. Because of her large bottom they wanted to show her on stage as a natural marvel, the "Hottentot Venus" to earn money. She caught the attention of British abolitionists while performing in Picadilly Circus and argued that she was made to perform against her will. Dunlop did supply documents that gives her concent, but the validity of these were questioned. She was eventually sold to an animal trainer in Paris to amuse onlookers at Palais-Royal. Baartman lived in poverty, and died in Paris of an undetermined inflammatory disease in December 1815.

The Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children (SBCWC) was opened in 1999 as the first multi-disciplinary service (one-stop) centre for abused women and children in the country. This provided an opportunity for organisations to come together as partners to develop an appropriate on-site multi-agency service delivery model for the effective management, treatment and prevention of violence against women and children. It also presented an opportunity for a partnership approach between government departments and the non-governmental sector.

Vision

The vision of the SBCWC is the creation of a safe and secure society and a human rights culture, where women and children are empowered to exercise their full rights.

Mission statement

The mission of the SBCWC, as a human rights-based, non-governmental organisation, is to provide a comprehensive range of services that are accessible and safe to women and children by:

• Working in partnership with organisations that advocate ending violence against women and children
• Providing 24-hour emergency shelter, short and medium term residential care, and childcare services
• Prioritising awareness of women's rights on issues such as HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, legal and socio-economic rights

Objectives

Developmental objective - We have established an integrated and comprehensive one-stop centre for women and children who are survivors of gender-based violence

• Manage an effective and co-ordinated one-stop centre partnership that provides a comprehensive range of services for abused women and children.
• Establish, through research, a best practice intervention model to challenge and end violence against women and children.
• Provide effective community outreach work to end violence against women and children through preventative and awareness programmes.
• Develop an effective networking relationship with other organisations, networks and tertiary institutions that advocate and seek an end to violence against women and children.
• Promote research and advocacy on gender-based violence in order to influence policy makers and society in general.

To get involved, please contact:
The Saartjie Baartman Center
+27 21 633 5287
info@womenscentre.co.za
Klipfontein Rd
Manenberg
Cape Town
or Visit their website

For the love of Light

Exploration of Light

As I've mentioned before photography is all about painting with light. It is using the way light gets absorbed, reflected and refracted to create an image. I'm still a very traditional girl and still love film photography, and I do believe that analogue photography does explain the essence of understanding what light actually does to give you the ability to capture an image using light.

I will get into the basics of film at a later stage but this is a simple article to explain the basic facts about light and how it acts. It's essential to understand light as you need these technical objections to be combined with aesthetic aims to produce an outstanding picture.

It is simple to understand that photography depends on light. Exactly the same way our sight depends on it. Why can we not see in the dark? There is no light from the sun reflecting from all the surfaces around us to be visible. What is light and how does it have to power to allow us to see the beauty that surrounds us?

Visible Light

I'm going to try and keep this simple: Visible light is what humans see and forms a very small part of the whole spectrum of electromagnetic waves, ranging from gamma rays to radio waves. The reason humans can only see visible light is because the chemical reaction in the carbon based chemistry of our cells, that allows us to see, only gets triggered by waves around this range. Any longer, it doesn't carry enough energy to trigger a reaction and any shorter, too much that can damage this chemistry, like sunburn from ultraviolet light.

Colour of light

Light is a mixture of many different colours. If you look at the rainbow or maybe you saw how white light splits through a prism. This also have to do with the fact that they have different wave lenghts and will bend in a slightly different way than the other colours. When light hits an object – say, a leaf – the object absorbs some of the light and reflects the rest of it. Which wavelengths are reflected or absorbed depends on the properties of the object. This light then travels in turn to the light sensitive retina in the eye where the message gets sent to the brain: green.

Electric light uses these qualities and simplifies it to create light, that looks to the normal eye like daylight, but not exactly. This is why the sun makes different pictures than florescent or incandescent light. The colour of light will effect your image accordingly. Think of the cold blue light of florescent lights in a hospital and the warm effect of the incandescent lights in your lounge. This has to do with the colour temperature of the light. Our eyes naturally adjust to this but not film or the sensor of your camera.

Colour temperature gets measured in kelvin, over 5000 K are cool colors, while lower color temperatures (2700–3000 K) are warm colors. Daylight being between 5000K and 6500K. It is based on the principle that any object will emit light if it is heated to a high enough temperature and that, as the temperature increases, the color of that light will change along with the temperature.

Also think of the yellow glow of the sun setting through trees and the pale blue light just before the sun rises. Daylight will also change depending on time of day and the obstructions or interaction it has along the way. It is important to be aware of this to either keep to the true colours or manipulate to create your own magic, essentially painting with light...

“Do not Bodies and Light act mutually upon one another; that is to say, Bodies upon Light in emitting, reflecting, refracting and inflecting it, and Light upon Bodies for heating them, and putting their parts into a vibrating motion wherein heat consists?”

- Sir Isaac Newton

As you've noticed this was a simple basic explanation and not a complete scientific exploration. The aim was to get you to understand what you're working working with when taking a picture. Next time I'll dig into how light bends through materials. This will have an effect on how different lenses distorts your images. Please contact me if you have any questions.

The Bookery

"Bringing the School Library to life"

I drove past The Bookery one morning on my way to the studio. Not my normal route as I had to collect prints on the way, but still in a road that I come past often I spot The Bookery. Why have I not yet spotted them and what are they about?

After a little bit of research I realized this is my charity for the month! This Non profit organization quickly became close to my heart concentrating on the essentials of basic education, books.

"Literacy and numeracy are the first steps towards social and economic change for both individuals and communities anywhere."

- The Bookery

The Bookery aims to provide and support school libraries that are under resourced in South Africa. According to them, there is a dramatic shortage in school libraries with over 90% of public schools in South Africa doesn't even have a functional library.

The Bookery was established on 1 March 2010 under the coordination of Rich Conyngham and soon after the first two libraries were open. Thembelihle High School in May 2010 and Lavender Hill High School in June 2010.

The aim was to have a positive impact on schools and learners in under resourced communities both academically and culturally. Making this possible by sourcing books and resources from the general public and a variety of different partners.

The Bookery started as a branch of Equal Education's campaign for school libraries . EE is an organization promoting quality and equality in the South African educational system as well as a leading in youth leadership development. In October 2013 however, The Bookery became an independent NPO and continues its great work in the building blocks of the education of South Africa.

To get involved, please contact:
The Bookery
021 461 4189
info@thebookery.org.za
79 Plein Street
Cape Town
8001
or Visit their website