The Pop Culture Issue

Yesterday saw the publication of Coup Magazine‘s Pop Culture issue and yay, my photo of couturier Hendrik Vermeulen was featured in the Creative Space alongside Jeremy Nell, Conrad de Jong and several others.

You can find a mini bio on each participant on page 40.

Been listening to the new Death Cab For Cutie album ‘Codes and Keys’ as well as ‘Smoking in Heaven’ by English band Kitty, Daisy and Lewis.

The Fire That Never Happened

The last week of February is turning out to be a week of photography, uhm, decisions.  Artists Wanted announced the winners of their Year in Review competition this week. The big prize goes to artist duo Jennifer Catron and Paul Outlaw. Congratulations to them! They will be announcing about another dozen prizes later this week but I’m not holding my breath. If I remember correctly, Foto Festival Naarden will also be announcing the nominees. I am so keen to learn if I’ve been nominated… Fingers crossed y’all:)

The big thing for me though this week, was being able to show my portfolio to the picture editor of ELLE Magazine. I was very excited about it and quite nervous as well. The fact that the trains weren’t running on time at all didn’t help matters much. There had been a fire alarm earlier that morning for a fire that never happened. It sounds almost romantic, “the fire that never happened”.

Somehow, I managed to make it to Amsterdam 45 minutes early but that was cool. That way I could just walk through the city, get to where I had to be, get a coffee and relax in the winter sun.  After having been seriously and embarrassingly late for my first Swimming Upstream interview with photographer  Neil John Smith last year, I am determined to arrive to the scene early so I can wait for a bit and pitch up on time. And yes, I reported to the reception desk perfectly on time:) I was met by the editor in the hall way and we made our way, coffee in hand, to a little room just next to the staff room where we just chatted about the magazine and my photography. She asked me a bunch of questions, like what do I like to photograph etc.

And naturally, we went through my portfolio. I always feel a little awkward doing that, and probably either talk too much or too little. There was positive and negative criticism but it was always constructive and interesting. The photos of Strato and Hendrik Vermeulen that were taken for Swimming Upstream were clear favorites, together with a portrait of SA writer Catriona Ross and the father/daughter duo on the couch that I took in Muizies two years ago.

Another thing that was very interesting  was going through the new issue while looking at the photography specifically. There is a whole item about Dutch fashion photographers and ai, I need to brush up on my knowledge that’s for sure!

I can easily tell you all about Robert Capa and Robert Frank or about Stieglitz, Steichen, Avedon and Weston. Or about Anton Corbijn, Niels van Iperen, Stephan van Fleteren, Charles Peterson, Roger Ballen or Liam Lynch and Deborah Rossouw for that matter.  I can go on and on about what it is that  those photographers do that I admire and how they inspire me. Yet, I can hardly tell you anything about Dutch fashion photography. Sure, we’re good with light. And yes, naturally, there’s world-renowned and iconic photographer’s duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin… I know about  Wendelien Daan, Viviane Sassen and Paul Bellaart but that’s about it. I’m sure I can come up with some more if I think about it, but ja,  I sure need to catch up on my knowledge of Dutch fashion photography. Fast.

The meeting ended after about 40 minutes or so and will be continued, I’ve been told:)

Oh and I like the video for new Dutch band Happy Camper. Happy Camper is more of a project than a band, I think. Musician Job Roggeveen asked 11 Dutch singers to come into the studio and sing his songs. The video they made for Born With A Bothered Mind is quite cute I thought.

Pills ‘n Thrills and Bellyaches

And just like that things change. I wrote an entire blog post on how I was a bit worried. Not exactly stressed yet but worried as a lot of emails seem to be floating in space and no one is replying. And there are 3 shoots left to do and am having a hard time getting hold of people. I have some time left but slowly getting a bit anxious. Yeah, anxious is the right word. I even have a stomach ache…  

Then I got a Facebook message from a friend saying a photo of mine made it into the Cape Times this morning. At the same time an email popped in asking when I would like to do the shoot. Then another email with the pdf file with the article/photo. 

 

And then I checked www.overtone.co.za and there’s the banner that my friends at www.taluut.nl made for my project. Invitations should be ready soon as well. Wow. It almost seems real:-) I am going to have an exhibition. A solo exhibition. A solo exhibition in Cape Town. Cape Town as in South Africa as in not my home country. Nice. I am almost inclined to say that it is a happy Monday. If I was an optimist or even a realist that would be true.

The photo in the Cape Times is a photo that is currently on show at the Museum Gallery. It was taken for the Swimming Upstream project but didn’t make the selection. It’s a portrait of fashion designer Hendrik Vermeulen and we shot it in Tokai a while back. I will post more on that later.

 They’re playing Live on the radio. I hate Live. So I’ll just play something I do like… The Sonics, ‘The Witch’… Maybe some Jon Spencer Blues Explosion next… Now that will get my Monday started properly:-)

And yes, of course, the title is from the Happy Monday’s third album.

But you knew that already:-)