Natural Bliss

Jess & Kirst

Kirsty

Jess

Young & In Love

Young Love

Apologies for the very long dry spell - exams and the stress attached have ruled life for a while :). Here is an overdue blog post. Its title, Young & In Love, comments two things. Firstly it comments on how children are being forced to grow up long before their time, being exposed to social media, technology and other various things which rapidly increase their mental ages. Secondly it comments on the simplicity of love and how it can take you at any age and these young relationships are important and are foundations to future ones.

Scenic

Country Road

Flora Silhouette

Duck's Pond

These photographs were taken in different locations. The first, and my personal favourite, was taken on a road leading to a lighthouse in Morgan's Bay. I took this photo and used the sepia setting because it just reminded me of an old country road. The second photograph, the silhouette, was taken in Durban. The "Duck's Pond" photograph was taken in a little area on the beach of Kei Mouth known as Duck's Pond.

Mosaic

Damian

This picture was taken of a young boy who has, as one can see, two different colours in one iris. This is a rare and rather amazing condition known as heterochromia iridis. According to Susan Gross,  co-director of the Division of Reproductive Genetics at the Montefiore Medical Center, this is caused by different levels of melanin in the eye. There are other causes but this is the most common. People with two different coloured eyes are called Chimera's, Mosaic's or Cerebro. It is a rare phenomenon that really is something amazing to see. The full article on why this occurs can be found at this link: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-does-someone-get-two

Pulitzer Prize Winner 1994

Starving

This photograph was taken by Kevin Carter and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1994. I decided to add this photograph to my blog because of the powerful message that it sends. It shows that photography can have a huge impact on its viewers. This picture is of a starving child during a famine crawling toward a food camp roughly one kilometer away. The vulture behind is waiting for the inevitable so that it can eat. Kevin Carter took the photograph and left the child there. There is much debate about whether this was by choice or not, however, Kevin Carter killed himself not long after winning the Pulitzer. There is much literature showing final words from his suicide note that claimed he suffered from depression. I have chosen not to add this here because the photograph should tell all that needs to be said. Walking away from this would definatey break a human spirit and it is important to know that while we all sit comfortably there is this type of pain going on in the world.

Kei Beach River

River Tree

Wooden Bird

Lost

Below the Surface

These photographs were taken in Kei Mouth. At the beach there is a bridge that crosses a small river and the setting was so beautiful. I decided to use the sepia setting because there is no other way to get that aged look in a photograph better than using sepia. A colour photograph is nice but it would be missing that look. The first photograph is a tree that was growing out of the bank of the river and half of its trunk was completely submerged by the water. The "Wooden Bird" photograph shows a little bird sitting on the log, this bird was exactly the same colour as the log on which it was sitting and didnt move until I reached about a meter from it. The lost photograph is meant to depict a young boy who's parents had left him behind and now he is waiting for them to return. It shows the blind faith that young children have in their parents and how this creates the basis for all trust in ones life.

Greek Goddesses

Photo 5 - Jess Black and White

Photo 4 - Kirsty Black and White

Photo 3 - Jess

Photo 2 - Kirsty

Photo 1 - Jess & Kirsty

In this photo shoot I tried to go with a Greek goddess theme. The outfits were made with a white sheet and the colours were a material called chiffon. It was not easy to get the whole thing to stay together. The models hair is a messy organized because in the old days the goddesses hair was not perfectly kept. It was also lank difficult to create a backdrop. Smoothing it out was such a mission so I decided that the crinkled look kinda suited the unorganized hair. The first two photographs are rather big so they may appear stretched, but just click on the photo to open it properly and it will be in perfect proportions.

The Beach

Tide on Rocks

Breaking Waves

Spraying Seawater

Solitary Strelitzia

These photographs were taken at the Double Mouth Beach. Double Mouth is a small camping site where teenagers love to go and party. I am a huge fan of the beach and the ocean so any photographs of the two would fall under a must have. The strelitzia photograph was a random one. In the bush that met the sand there was one strelitzia standing on its own. It was the strangest thing, not one other single strelitzia as far as the eye could see. That made this picture all the more better to have. The colours stuck out and caught all our attention walking on the beach.

Photoshoot - Innocence

Part 1 - Jessica

Part 2 - Kirsty

I like to play around with the thought nudity and use it to emphasize things. I find that nudity, when used constructively, can portray the directness of an emotion. In these photographs I tried to use the nudity and the black and white imagery to show a feeling of loss. The picture is meant to portray a young girl who has suffered some form of loss, is feeling bleak - hence the black and white - and is now holding onto her blanket for comfort.

Maritzburg Birds

Posing bird

Bird of Chance

Cranes in Love

Sleeping Swan

Purity

Peaked Interest

Catatonic

The photographs in this post were all taken in Maritzburg. I went to stay with a friend there during the holidays and we went to the zoo. There I saw these beautiful birds. The Yellow budgie was such a poser and kept coming closer to the camera and then walking away, turning and coming back as if he was posing. The little bird on the roof was a lucky shot. We were looking at the lions and as I turned I saw the bird and I just had to have a picture. I took the crane shot because it genuinely looked as though they were mates, the way the standing crane looked after the one on the floor. The swan pictures just reminded me of purity once I had edited the black and white. The last picture with the caption "Catatonic" was called this because this bird just stayed in that position the whole time we were at the zoo. These are just the birds that I took photos of and more will come soon.

Photoshoot 1

Photo 1 - Damian

 Photo 2 - Jessica

Photo 3 - Kirsty

The setting in which these photographs were taken was found by chance. I was walking on the beach in Kei Mouth and saw the graffiti on the wall. The graffiti was placed perfectly to be a background for a subject, so I decided to use three subjects. In these photographs I decided to play around with sepia as I am by no means a professional photographer. Let me know what you think.

First of its kind

I am a 20 year old, South African, Rhodes University student. My family is made of me, my younger sister, my mother and my father. I am currently completing my second year in the Grahamstown university and am doing a Bachelor of Arts. I have always been a creative person and decided that I shall create this blog to post a variety of things such as photography, poetry, some of my drawings and other bits and pieces. I want this blog to be informal so please feel free to comment on anything you find interesting. Please, one favour, if someone enjoys something that I have posted you may save it but no plagiarism, the work on here is mine and I want to keep it that way!