Wednesday 30 December 2009

Article of interest



Fashionable anti-fashion:
the brave, irreverent edge


In among the glamazons, wearing towering heels, carefully crafted and coordinated outfits, there were a handful of young folk, who defy this stifling elegance for a more irreverent take on fashion.

They are the Smarteez, a group of individuals in the truest sense of the word, the majority of whom hail from the harbinger of cool -- Soweto.

"We express the random world we live in with our random attire," says Floyd Avenue, one of the regular Smarteez at the gig.

Dressed in a blue-checked shirt, with denim shorts embellished with top stitching that he has added himself, a multicoloured neckerchief and what can only be described as Steve Urkel glasses, Floyd Avenue looks unutterably funky.

"We get criticism when we are divided," said fellow Smartee, Retro, "But together we are stronger."
Retro is one of the few converts who comes from Pretoria.

Smarteez never wear the same look twice, they find or make clothes and don't buy international labels unless they are sneakers, said Floyd Avenue.

The result is a dazzling array of colour, fabric and style that is an identity all its own and yet defies any kind of label.

The Smarteez have been documented by photographer Lolo Veleko and been featured in Elle magazine's September issue.

According to Elle the pictures taken by Veleko were used in her recent exhibition in Japan, where they were spotted and snapped up by Japanese designer Kenzo.

Monday 28 December 2009

Back to the grinder

How I stand?

Dissertations magazine got>
Two designer got>
Flights done>

I would just love some input from some peeps about one of the designers/sub culture , THE SMARTEEZ.
They seems to have won quite a few fashion acknowledgments in SA, they have the exact necessities that I needed for the project and they seem awesome guys. I just need a bit of LCF backing for piece of mind?
I hope everyone elses project are on the road to success and completion!
I have just realized the approach i have taken with my lit review means that I am going to be really short for time if something goes wrong,
Happy Chrimbo and NY

Thursday 24 December 2009

sorry been AWAY

Sorry will be back to bloggin soon, I havn't added since sunday as made a very last minute road trip to verbier which was so worth while till wednesday

Saturday 19 December 2009

Smarteez kids- Possible designer, what do u think? Feed back needed

STYLE: Soweto fashionistas make the Smart choice

The Smarteez are the talk of the eclectic nu rave fashion scene. They are a tribe of young adults founded by ghetto-fresh fashioinistas Sibu and Kepi. The flamboyant duo are Africa's new street style warriors, soon to take on the nu rave world.

With features in Elle Magazine as well as Virgin fashion blogs, where they've been compared to Tokyo's Harajuku girls, the syle pioneers are set to take their movement to new heights.

Coming from the heart of South Africa, The Smarteez are painting the streets of Soweto rainbow culture style.


Tuesday 15 December 2009

Jan 12th - 23rd

So i have finally booked flights to go to SA for pre-production. The basic 'Mission' if you will, is to return to the UK with a semi organized fashion shoot. Location scout to security, to the nearest camera shop. Its either going twice or doing it in a 3 week trip, and going twice leaves room for error and room for reflection. Organization is going to be a key feature to develop my skills enough to complete stage one for the shoot, it is going to be a case of getting to SA and networking my ass off. Should be fun!
Also at the same time i can squeeze in some future career plan pre meetings which should be convenient. So my suitcase now consists of,clothes, camera , suit sorted bing bang bosh.
Though without this discipline of organization it will be impossible and frankly a waste of money, I need a seriously plan, to have done a million emails and a tick list before i go! Now for the dissertation.....errr

Monday 14 December 2009

FLIGHT BOOKED

FLYING OUT 12TH - 23RD. PRE PRODUCTION TIME, WILL INFORM U FURTHER TOMORROW.

Saturday 12 December 2009

Say this in the paper and thought of our work

Time, the cradle of hope.... Wisdom walks before it, opportunity with it, and repentance behind it: he that has made it his friend will have little to fear from his enemies, but he that has made it his enemy will have little to hope from his friends. - Charles Caleb Colton

Friday 11 December 2009

New Approach



just out of interest, who is thinking about there future career plans, i feel a lot of my time spent since the beginning of term has actually been about future career plans! The discipline of approaching this miles in advice to set u up with a ntwork of options, and to go fo the unthinkable!
Random I know!
From today onwards i am taking a different approach to how i work, i feel it is time to put the rest of my life on hold, timetable me life till next term, where work takes preference! A work lifestyle where i use my personal strengths to create the right outcome and to counter balance my skill level in photography!

Some picture in reference to my africa project taken by rankin:

Thursday 10 December 2009

Tutorial Yesterday

Right so apparently now I should be going back to South Africa, why Life at uni is made so complicated i just don't know. So i was told yesterday that i should be out there by the 5th. That gives me 25 days, 21 realistically with Christmas and New Year. Not going and i personally don't think very realistic!

It all relies on whether:

1. I can get the financial backing
2. I can stay with someone out there
3. If my fashion contact is out there and available

Its all just so confusing, i have thought for the last two weeks that i wasnt going!

Friday 4 December 2009

Wednesday 2 December 2009




RIGHT another test shoot this w/e. What on, no idea! Literally have been told just to "shoot a fashion concept/ story, simple".
I just dont know where i stand with this course any more, fun fun !
Dissertation is even more fun as i just seem to be waiting for the primary research to arrive in the post! So all is about as positive as a mini in the Sahara

Saturday 28 November 2009

Friday 27 November 2009

Nope changed that too- ha life is good

Thursday 26 November 2009

Tutorial

Don't you just love tutorials -errr no!
I had my tutorial with Itai yesterday and he didn't like my idea so back to the drawing board. I understand where he is coming from as he thinks the idea is tacky and patronizing, he thinks the images will end up like I am just taking the piss out of the model. Its just very frustrating that we are now end of November and I am back to the drawing board-
as Tony the tiger would say grrrrrrrrrrreat ! Lets just hope Kellys dissertation one tomorrow goes a bit better!

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Tuesdays Lecture with ED!

*******Guys, was anything important said in EDs lecture, unfortunately I couldn't go due to an event i couldn't move*******

Tuesday 17 November 2009



The shanty town Cinderellas

For young people in the run-down suburbs of Cape Town, the graduation ball is a real dance of freedom, proof that they are going places in the world. And these prom queens and their kings will save and sacrifice almost anything for their one night of glamour

Candice Hermanus in her prom dress

Bernadine-Lee Rossouw

Bernadine-Lee didn’t think she would be able to afford to go to the dance, but members of the community chipped in, and an uncle donated his car. Her mother, Cheraldyne, her father and three brothers live in a wooden shack, with a carpet as protection against the wet ground. “We lived on bread for a week to save up for the dress. She looked like an angel,” Cheraldyne says of her daughter, who died a few months after the dance. “There were hundreds of people at her funeral, and we put a picture of her in her dress on the coffin. Everyone will remember her in that dress, so it was worth it.”

Nazreen Schoor is having the final braids added to her elaborate hairdo. It has taken the local hairdresser hours to smooth the 17-year-old’s hair into a lace-like cascade. “But it has been worth it,” the schoolgirl says happily. In a few hours she will step into a dress bought by her parents for R3,000 (£236), and go out on an evening that cost the equivalent of a few months’ wages for an average worker in her area. “The dress would have cost more,” she says, “but my sister and I matriculated in the same year and we got two dresses for the price of one.”

Every year, students at South African schools celebrate their graduation with a matriculation (or matric) ball. In apartheid years, it was an exclusively white affair: white students in white tie. But after Mandela became President in 1994, every student of the Rainbow Nation embraced it. In the informal settlements in which 7.7 million people live – an urban sprawl in which many are without sanitation, electricity or plumbing in their basic, often tin-shack homes – the dance has taken on a special significance: a symbol of the freedom they fought so long for.

The evening is of particular importance to those children who are the first in their family to matriculate. In the shanty towns around Cape Town, an entire community has sometimes chipped in to ensure the teens look the part; dresses, shoes, cars and accessories are hired, bought or borrowed, and loans taken out. Hire shops do brisk trade, the most desired dress being the “Cinderella” with its fur-lined hood. Co-ordination is vital, and couples attending will get together months before to discuss outfits.

Concept : Sorted

I some very helpful pieces of advice i have finally sorted my concept idea. I originally got the idea from a friend in South Africa, and it was backed up by The Times Magazine this weekend!
I always wanted to go to SA to shoot in the townships , but never really had a strong enough concept behind the idea apart from the obvious, colour coordination and promoting the designer.
Now with the Matric Ball idea its sorted. I am going to use the process between the matric ball (prom) and the preparation before hand as the fashion story; finding the dress, getting it fitted , makeup hair etc. I am also going to try and incorporate the public into the shots to.
The matric ball for any students in the township are a big deal as it is the finish of the last major step in their life so far, the family save p for ages for their £100 dress, and all the community chip in for makeup cars etc-
it should be an awesome theme and any ideas are always welcome!

Saturday 14 November 2009

Question

Guys, does anyone have any concept ideas for my shoot in the townships of sa. I am struggling to find a strong one?
Q2. Does anyone have the september issue on dvd or know where to watch it i need inspiration
thanks
j

Thursday 12 November 2009

The Start


So today i have really progressed with my dissertation, the title being at the moment, the beauty of poverty; an exploration of the ethics of using a SA township as a backdrop to commercial images. I am sure the title will change again and again. I decided also not to go to Africa till nxt yr as 1 the expense and 2 the organization. Instead i am going to test shoot hear using the same concept but in a different location!
if any of u like reportage photography check this out, if u dont its an amzing story and is going to be turned into a film. Whilst i was researching i cam across the BANG BANG CLUB. Its a group of photographers that were involved in reporting the Apartheid. Its an amazing story. TYPE The Bang Bang Club - South Africa ON YOUTUBE, u can read about it but its a lot easier to watch if u want the general outline of the story. I have added a few photos which they took. Also started my physical, i dont know what everyone else is doing but i have been doing a sort of work orientated journal that actually is incredibly useful for writing photographers down etc. I hope everyone is well and happy
J

Monday 9 November 2009

but anyways life moves on.......




I had my future dreams crushed today like it was putty in someones hands so not a good day! I never realized that someone can just strip you away without even knowing it!
but anyways life moves on.......
found some what i think are awesome pictures on the net over the weekend by a guy called Pieter Hugo absolutely love them. Dissertation wise normally thing, just seem to be staring at 1 of three things; the computer, written notes or a book. It doesnt really seem to be moving on. I tried inspiring myself by looking at other documents in the same sort of research but nothing. I feel i have wasted so much time by just staring......
but anyways life moves on.......
On a positive note got in touch with a south african photographer yesterday who is coming to the uk and wants to chat about my idea he is called chris saunders, check out his website, go onto the fashion bit and the first 4 images are how i imagine mine to be like. Hope everyone elses day is going better than mine, i am sure it is
but anyways life moves on.......

Saturday 7 November 2009

Africa






Some of my recent shots from africa that u may like if u r interested in it

7th November Saturday






Guys any thoughts about my Dissertation from whoever was left, had a complete idea about it in my head before the lecture now i am just confused! Seriously annoying with my main project to as just want to talk to Itai about it as dont want to go book flights and then not do it, I have to wait Sooooooo annoying ! So at the moment i cant really do much which is so frustrating!
As none of you really know me i thought i would just stream some picture just to explain myself,
also the vid i wanted to show in my presentation look in youtube banned advert south africa soweto.




Thursday 5 November 2009

5th Novemeber (fireworks)

Hello (Blog Started),
This is my first blog EVER so I appologize for spelling mistakes, punctuation and any other annoying habits!
Guys i would really like some feed back (if you can think of any), on my main project idea? It was all about shooting in South African Townships. I cant work out whether it will work or not?
Also u realise the book has to be in on the 1st, help!
Out!