Matt Kay is a photographer who grew up in the Natal Midlands. After spending some time in Johannesburg studying at the Market Photo Workshop, he subsequently became one of the lecturers. Matt was however drawn back to Durban, where he had lived for some time. The scenery, the beach front, the people of Durban are what Matt needs to construct his photographic narratives. Matt expresses that he builds his narratives from memory and that he regards his work as an introspective investigation.
Matt was awarded the Tierney Fellowship and received the opportunity to work under the renowned photographer David Goldblatt. During his mentorship with Goldblatt Matt produced his series, ‘The Front’. The series is an ongoing exploration of space and who occupies it. In this series Matt seeks to document what the Durban beachfront space was at that moment in time. As has often been said, a photograph captures a moment in time. ‘The Front’ is confrontational and speaks about identity, diversity and the multi functional nature of the shared public space. Challenging preconceived ideas about the Durban beachfront, Matt’s body of work looks at a space that seems integrated however below the surface there are still lines of segregation.
Image from ‘The Front’
What makes the subject matter of Matt’s photographic investigation of interest is the nature of the beach front: it is a space unlike most in South Africa as it falls outside of race, class or wealth restrictions – the beach is open for all to appreciate. This series opens up a narrative exploration in which it’s consumer will come to recognize that this apparent shares space is not what it appears to be and is in fact a front. Matt’s observation in ‘The Front’, brings up the history of the Durban beachfront and the various bodies that take occupancy in the space.
Matt has the ability to capture moments in photographs that I as a photographer would not necessarily look at with my naked eye and think, “Here is a photo worth taking”. He looks at things that seem ordinary, standard and he elevates these scenes into something extraordinary. Matt works as a documentarian capturing moments as they happen yet at the same time it truly does feel as though there had to be some level of choreographing subjects. I believe he has a unique eye and focus in his work with emphasis on narratives that he can construct from memory.
In an interview with Between 10&5 Matt stated, “I like to think my photographs ask questions although I’m not really interested in the answers.” I feel however that Matt is in some way interested in his answers as his investigative series ‘The Front’ displays.
Image from ‘The Front’Image from ‘The Front’Image from ‘The Front’Image from ‘The Front’
A number of months ago, browsing the Internet I was moved by analogue images that I found of South East Asian street culture. It was a very specific image that had mesmerized me: an image of a topless young woman with dark hair and haunting eyes. A lizard shaped tattoo crawling up her neck, she was fashioned in gold loop earrings and a peach coloured cap. In her one hand she holds a bucket of noodles and in the other, chopsticks with noodles pinched tight. Behind her a cityscape. Inspired by the striking image I immediately saved it to my phone without looking into who the creator was. As I started my research for this article I found the image again and was delighted to know that it in fact, it belonged to a South African creative, Duran Levinson.
Image from ‘Backchat Boys Volume 1 – all image no spinach’
Traveling on work holidays, the Capetonian filmmaker and photographer, Duran Levinson has captured the people and places he has encountered while globetrotting. Today I would like to focus on his work put together in Hong Kong consisting of architectural shots, portraiture and street photography.
In 2016 Duran teamed up with two other South African photographers, Dustin Holmes and Gideon de Kock and brought out Backchat Boys Volume 1 – All image no spinach. This book was a collaborative project between the three friends and features imagery of street photography and venues in Hong Kong, captured on 35mm film.
The aim of the project according to Duran was to document the street culture that he witnessed in the area and what I find the most intriguing is that the entire project was documented on a single point and shoot camera. Duran navigated the streets and was essentially perceived as a tourist with a little flimsy point and shoot camera and because of this, I believe that the result of his photographic documentation was influenced. The work that Duran produced in this project was obtained as a result of his unobtrusive tool to document with and this caused people to come across in a more authentic and natural way, as they were not necessarily posing.
Image by Duran Levinson. ‘Hong Kong Forever’ series
Duran has been known for working on expired film and the only changing factor in his project was changing between colour and black and white film. Expressing that the expired film he used during this collaborative project was between 5-10 years old, he believes that it leaves more room for experimentation and keeps the medium alive for him. The expired film creates a cool, subtle feeling to the images and the entire concept is captivating as not many photographers using the analogue medium opt to shoot that way. Duran however, adores the film stock and expresses that in Asia, expired film is cheaper than water.
The images that Duran captured for this project are justly some of the most intriguing images I have seen of South East Asia and I believe that they show a different look into the culture that I have not been exposed to before. The imagery is fresh and honest documentation yet simultaneously, upon viewing them I feel like I can see Duran’s own sentiments towards the subjects that he is capturing. It is documentation, yet at the same time it exudes emotive expression.
Image by Duran Levinson. ‘Hong Kong Forever’ series
Duran has said before in conversations about this self-published book that it was a poor attempt at documenting human nature but I must say I disagree, the work speaks of a humanist approach. When I think of the documentation that I see in Backchat Boys Volume 1 – All image no spinach, I cannot say that it shares similarities with the kind of photographic documentation you would see in any National Geographic. Perhaps this collaborative project that Duran worked on with Dustin Holmes and Gideon de Kock, can be regarded as a new way of executing documentary photography.
“Travelling is the only way to understand a big part of the ‘human condition’ and how you fit into this world in whatever way you perceive it.”
Image by Duran Levinson. ‘Hong Kong Forever’ seriesImage from ‘Backchat Boys Volume 1 – all image no spinach’
Period stained underwear. Armpit hair fashioned with brightly coloured clips. Stretch marked buttocks and boobs with spots are just some of the images belonging to Seattle based photographer, Ashley Armitage. The young feminist photographer recently received her BFA in Photomedia and focuses her work on female representation. Ashley’s vision is to have women painted by women. Her work has brought up mixed responses on Instagram however, with people questioning her choice to not use the stereotypical cis model as her muse. Despite the backlash on Instagram, Ashley perseveres with her aim of authentic female representation.
Ashley found her femme driven meaning through her frustration with the way in which the media represents femininity. You know the imagery all too well of thin, white, able-bodied gender normative women. Ashley’s close female friends are captured in intimate portraits that oppose the principal narrative that society has constructed surrounding the meaning of being female. Showing femmes with natural, diverse beauty, Ashley photographs real girls with real bodies, imperfections untouched, in a dreamy, hazey pastel dream.
Image from the series ‘Taking Back What’s Ours’
“I create images of the female body because historically these images have been controlled by men. We were always the painted and not the painters. I’m trying to take back what’s ours and explore what it means to have a body that has always been defined by a male hand”
Ashley states that her shoots often materialize when she is simply hanging out with her girl gang and she happens to have her camera around to capture the most intimate moments of girlhood, moments that I believe are eloquently described by Britney Spears in her song, ‘I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman’ released in 2001.
Image from ‘The Girls Room’
She believes that in order to change the way in which the female body is viewed resistance is the first natural step before acceptance. Deeply embedded in Ashley’s work is her message about body positivity and her desire for every woman to be able to look on a tv screen or flip through a magazine and see themselves represented there in a light that is honest yet retains beauty. For me that is where the true importance of photography such as Ashley’s lies, is in the tasteful way that she is able to authentically document what she sees and show the absolute beauty of all of her sitters regardless of what society might consider to be imperfections or out side of the norm.
I look at Ashley’s work and I see myself represented. This is a rather astounding fact as I am sure that many woman today look through magazines, look at models and we can’t relate to that fake image of a person who is not even a person (because the images are often made to be so idyllic due to applications of make up and airbrushing as well as photo shop).
Image from ‘The Girls Room’
In a recent study by Yahoo health it has been indicated that 94% of American teenage girls have fallen victim to body shaming at some point in their life. The statistics are gruesome and in my own experience as a photographer working with girls and young women for the better part of my photographic explorations, body insecurities is something that so many young females struggle with daily. Having been a victim of body shaming myself, I like many women out there are tired of trying to be something we just aren’t. Like us, don’t like us, it’s ok because we like ourselves. Why on earth are we subject to these hyper unrealistic fake standards that are not achievable in any way or fashion?
The Instagram handle Ladyist is suitable to Ashley’s work as she’s trying to changed these ideas of girlhood that have been so imprinted on us from a young age. Her work is relevant as it seeks to create a shift in not only how femme bodies are seen but in regards to how femme bodies view themselves. We can only hope that from photographers like Ashley change is inspired and that more females will start accepting themselves for the beautifully diverse beings we are.
The collaborative studio Jana+Koos are known for a variety of projects with unpredictable art execution that ranges from work on small passion projects to global brands. The list goes on and on but I believe the ones they are best known for include Simon + Mary, MESH and Nike ZA. Koos jubilantly reflects on the studio’s work with Simon + Mary as their baby that is now “a healthy young kid in school”. In my interview with Koos we talk about the start of their studio as well as their new project ‘The Free Art Project’ and the concept and ideas surrounding free art
Jana Hamman and Koos Groenewald walked into what would become their collaborative journey when they first met as graphic design students in Pretoria. After having worked in advertising for a couple of years the duo started their own studio, Jana+Koos. “We’ve always been keen to work on many different kinds of projects, in different capacities and art has always been our way of exploring, trying out new things and making the jokes we can’t in commercial projects.” Koos tells me that this is a vital aspect of the partnership that he shares with Jana. To Koos failed art pieces are the first emphasis and tests for ideas that have the possibility of informing big projects in the future.
‘The Free Art Project’ got its name due to the fact that Jana+Koos viewed it as both sensational and dubious, Koos tells me that it didn’t start off as that however. “It actually started a couple of years back when we saw a link that the British Library had released a flicker account with 20 000 high res scanned images from it’s archives.” Stating that the studio has always kept true to creating distinctive, original imagery for every project they take on, this release of imagery from the British Library was a gem they could not leave unfound as the image quality from the archives were not only suitable for commercial use but also free of charge. The duo had planned to use these images from the archives on smaller and personal projects where photography or illustrating it themselves was not required.
“So we kind of kept a look-out for similar news – and when we saw the Met Museum’s link about their public domain – and the vast amount of classic art one had access to it had us trembling with excitement. I mean there are actual Cezanne, and Manet photos of art big enough to make a building wrap out of.” Printing images for themselves from these archives for their studio and house walls was the next step the project took on before it became an official exploration.
The Free Art Project took shape when Jana+Koos collaborated with their friend Gareth Steele. Gareth had shown them a glitching site called MOSH where images can be uploaded and you have the ability to ‘glitch yo’self’ and download the artwork afterwards for whatever use you deem fit. “Just messing around we fed some close up imagery of romantic painted boobs through the glitch machine and got some weird (but cool) imagery back, and loved this so much we used it as backgrounds on our iPads and phones etc. But it felt wasted on just our own personal wallpapers.”
After having taken this imagery into MOSH, the studio realized that remarkable art works could come from this idea, not only from artists but also from anyone and everyone and they thought about the possibilities that existed for programming techies. Viewing ‘The Free Art Project’ as an experiment, Jana+Koos forged some rules to abide by while working on it, namely that no design and photo shop software that they had purchased may be used to make their new art works (free to download apps only) from the archival imagery. The idea is to choose their best art works and release them publicly as downloadable high-res images in the same way that they were able to download images from the Met and the British Library archives.
In this week Jana+Koos are planning on releasing the project officially on Instagram and Facebook and see where the project develops naturally. “Everything we do isn’t for press or commerce. Sometimes you just have something that needs to get out. Free imagery and free software or even generative design/programming isn’t new, it’s more a case of wanting to show the potential of putting the two together.” Similar in vision to the ‘con artist’ project Jana+Koos ran a few years ago, they invite people who do not consider themselves to be artists to partake in ‘The Free Art Project’. “We often grapple with the question of what constitutes an artist or not. Creativity really is everywhere, for everyone, and potentially by everyone too.”
When I asked Koos what some of the challenges were using open source software he had the following to say, “The main part that was hard without our design software was the lack of control in exporting to final sizes and formats. It’s surprising though how much you can do with the free and open source software. And it’s actually been a great exercise, forcing you to try out new ways to get to results, making us realize how stuck we have become in some of our ways of doing things.”
Koos tells me that at this time there is not an over all theme for the project but that it is about the subjectivity of art, what constitutes what art is and who is in fact an artist and whether painful labour is essential to creating art.
Koos’ opinion on the idea of free art is expressed as, “Giving away Free art is obviously not viable only as one needs to make money to survive but is a cool project. But seen from the perspective of Free-ing the art and making it accessible to more people it becomes viable and lives on beyond us in terms of helping to build on a culture of art creation and appreciation. It feels cool for us that perhaps someone whose barrier to starting an art collection is money, could own a nice big piece that they love. Even if it is their first piece that starts a collection – that would make us very happy. We’re also happy to share our preferred printers and framers with anyone who needs help on that side. Mail us anytime.”
Initially I was dubious about the concept of free art, I mean surely giving away an art piece that someone slaved over is not ok? After I had spoken to Koos, I must admittedly say that my view has shifted and I agree with him that making art more accessible to the public will in tern foster a more dynamic society with an appreciation of art.
Ben Zank grew up in the Bronx, New York City. Coming from a journalism background he felt that he did not have a platform to voice his own opinion and took to photography. Finding his voice at the age of 21 by means of a 365 self-portrait project, Zank has a defining style that he refers to as bizarre minimalism. His work is often called surrealistic due to the unconventional poses his models inhabit, his use of composition and the faceless nature of his work. Here I take a look at Surrealism in photography and the relevance of Zank’s curious imagery
Zank’s photography is characterized by its scrupulous attention to composition and his faceless subjects that have the ability to transform that which is familiar into something rather peculiar. “When you shoot somebody’s face, you’re shooting their likeness, their personality, and that’s not really what I’m trying to capture.” Zank is interested in transmitting information about the human condition and his concepts for his images are often stimulated by a certain location and the mood that it evokes in him.
It is thought-provoking that Zank chooses to focus instead on the human form and not the visage, as is common practice with many photographers. His subjects’ faces are often hidden and when they do show their faces, they never look directly at the viewer. “It’s pretty common to see beautiful faces in photographs, but I’m not trying to sell that. I’m interested in portraying the human form as something architectural and surreal.”
Zank feels that in the same way that certain photographers have the ability to capture emotions in people by showing their faces, he has found that he can create a similar effect without the use of faces. Stating that the image itself is the emotion that he is conveying, identity, or rather, the lack of identity is integral to Zank’s work.
Expressing that people are the focus of his work more so than composition as he finds them more unpredictable and multi-faceted, Zank states, “The most interesting thing about photography to me is the relationship of humans between themselves and between their environment.”
Zank has however stated in interviews that his work is devoid of meaning and instead focuses on the organic manifestations of his own inner workings as well as a visual experience he wishes to convey. It is rather contradictory that Zank would make such a statement as his pursuits into photography were aimed at establishing a voice that he does not seem to intend on expressing verbally. Instead Zank lets his bizarre minimalist work speak for itself.
Susan Sontag states in On Photography (1977) that photography has the reputation of being the most realistic and simplistic of the mimetic arts. “Surrealism lies at the heart of the photographic enterprise: in the very creation of a duplicate world, of a reality in the second degree, narrower but more dramatic than the one perceived by natural vision.” (Sontag 1977).
Sontag states that Surrealism has always been open to accidents and disorderly presences. “What could be more surreal than an object which virtually produces itself, and with a minimum of effort? An object whose beauty, fantastic disclosures, emotional weight are likely to be further enhanced by any accidents that might befall it?” (Sontag 1977)
Sontag also expresses that photographs are not deeply bound to the intentions of the artist but that they exist due to loose cooperation between the photographer and his/her subject. These results according to Sontag are exciting and never entirely wrong.
When taking Sontag’s point of view into consideration it is clear that Zank’s work if not all photography falls under the surrealism wing because of its nature as a duplicate of the real world. Zank’s work however does not make use of natural compositions. The poses made by the models themselves and their uncomfortable body positions together with the faceless elements that are so key to his work make his work a perfect example of Surrealist Photography.
Salomon Lighthelm is a South African director currently residing in New York with his family. Lighthelm started his career in music and sound design after recording his own tracks during his youth spent in Johannesburg. His family moved to Dubai and subsequently Sydney, where Salomon was pulled in by the culture and music that he experienced. With ease he took up writing and scoring films that progressed into Kickstarter funded films such as Anomaly, inspiring many other young filmmakers to practice crowd funding. In my interview with the director we discuss his background, style and views on his own work.
Salomon’s approach to cinematic storytelling is characterized by the human stories that fall at its core. Never having studied film in an official capacity, Salomon describes his practice as one where he learns by doing.
Reflecting on Anomaly, the Kickstarter funded project that grew from two minutes to a 37-minute short film, Salomon had the following to say, “It all happened without much forethought quite honestly. My friend Dan Difelice and I wanted to explore the short film format and realized that our idea might be able to live beyond 2 minutes. Initially we only wanted to create a short art film, but then realized that maybe the idea had legs on it, and we could turn it into a 7 minutes film. That became 12 minutes, then 15 minutes, and eventually we had a 27 page script, which turned into a 37 minute short film.”Anomaly takes on the space race of the 1960s as its subject matter being inspired by traditional Christmas Nativity; the film explores events of two thousand years ago through a modern day lens. The story follows relationships intertwining around an unprecedented astronomical event, while a couple deals with life’s realities during a time of inexplicable significance.
Screenshot from ‘Anomaly’
Salomon still takes a shot at working with sound and music in his film pieces and expresses that he enjoys getting his hands dirty, especially in director’s cuts. Stating that he previously used to think more in terms of sound when considering his projects, Salomon’s focus has since shifted.
“Recently I find myself being drawn to interesting characters, more so than visual or sonic ideas. I think my process has evolved from cutting projects around a piece of music, to cutting them based on the beauty of the images, and now I’m trying to focus on developing projects around performance and characters. But the process will come full-circle, there’s no wrong or right way…every artist evolves differently, and has a different emphasis that might shift with time.”
Indicating that he has a particular fondness of colourful imagery containing high contrasts, Salomon strives to make his work feel cinematic and timeless. Showing a particular interest in fashion from a lighting and styling viewpoint, he expresses that that is where he plans to venture next with music videos.
In many of Salomon’s film pieces he makes use of silhouetting, partial lighting, flare and the use of coloured lighting.“I believe in the power of mystery and allowing the audience to do a bit of the thinking and digging workto find the answers for themselves. Using light to partially expose my characters,and subtracting light to create silhouettes are things I do to make the audience more ‘active’, to have them lean in. I do like using coloured light, where appropriate, though I do think in general coloured light is completely overused.I don’t swing colours in post so most of those effects are achieved by using lights that can shift tones via the touch of a dial, or alternatively throwing gels in front of the lights.”
Another signature of Salomon’s is his use of recurring imagery that he attributes to his belief that humans are transcendent creatures, all in a search for meaning, “The imagery that I like to use is hopefully both human and divine – its Michelangelo – the Sistine Chapel – Adam reaching for God.”
Salomon’s body of work contains juxtapositions of natural and city landscapes. When asked about its significance he had the following to say: “It comes back to my interest in contrast, tensionsand juxtapositions in general. I like violence and intimacy, light and dark, urban and landscape and everything in between. I like edits that push and pull – that have loud moments and insanely quiet ones. Life is like that, and maybe that’s why it’s significant to me.”
Screenshot from ‘Mr Martyr’
With the human story at the heart of his narratives, Salomon states that he is not drawn to stories that do not contain a basis of reality. Enjoying stories that are real and extreme, he wishes to create a scope of work spanning from violent, to irreverent and subversive to sensitive and vulnerable; “..more than that I want do it within the same film – Jacques Audiard is a master at that. I don’t want everything to be so trendy and cool, that it is void of any soul – I love work that has a heartbeat”.
Salomon has a talent for telling stories of people from various demographics removed from his own, this can be seen in works such as Mr Martyr and Rocket Wars. Rocket Wars’ narrative is that of a war to keep peace in the small village of Vrontados in Chios. The parishioners of two Greek Orthodox churches engage in a battle on Holy Saturday, firing over 100,000 homemade rockets at one another once the sun has gone down. Mr Martyr has a completely different narrative tone and follows the story of a young boxer who is surrounded by gang violence.
Explaining that his ability to tell these stories may be due to the fact that he has grown up in different places all his life, he calls no where home and everywhere home. “I’m an outsider everywhere I go, and I used to despise that fact, because I always thought it would limit my ability to tell stories. However I have learnt that the outsider’s perspective is not only valid but is also important. To be able to come into a situation and see it objectively and from a non-biased point of view is an asset.”
Salomon’s body of work demonstrates a unique ability to take on virtually any human narrative with ease. His style of cinematic narrative is one that has grown with him over many years of moving from place to place. His approach to story telling is unmatched.
427 Wieners has been unpublished up until today. This short film by Talya Galasko has female empowerment at its core and is aimed at changing the way females are viewed on screen as well as in everyday life. The film is cheeky, daring and a different way of expressing female sexuality. In my interview with Talya we talk 427 Wieners, her inspiration and background.
Galasko grew up in Johannesburg and completed her Honours in Politics at UCT. After this she did a course in Journalism at NYU. She however had dreams to work in film and taught herself how to edit on Premiere Pro by watching hours of YouTube tutorials. She has previously worked on films during her time as a copywriter at Superbalist — “the one you might recall is the Make Love Valentine’s Day campaign. The one you might not recall is the slide show of hummus I shared on my Instagram the other day.”
427 Wieners is aimed at subverting the picture created of female characters in films as objects of male desire. In contradiction with this picture that we are so often confronted with in cinema, Galasko’s lead is infused with her own inclinations and power. Galasko explains that the casting of her lead character, played by Rachel Kay, was motivated by her desire to cast the blonde bomb shell that is often portrayed in films and the object of male desire. The blonde beauty has however been given a new narrative through the eyes of Tayla Galasko.
Galasko’s short film is narrated by Tiana de Siebenthal, a first-time voice over artist with a specific flair for orgasmic breathing. Siebenthal has a French accent that Talya used in order to heighten the mood of the film and push the satirical tone of her narrative. 427 Wieners makes use of colours like pink and yellow as backdrops that was put together by Art Director, Amber Rose Pretorius and Fashion Director, Gavin Mikey Collinns. Galasko and her team wanted to make use of colours that are habitually viewed as “feminine” as a backdrop for the new narrative they created. The styling and makeup of the film were also inspired by 1950s films, a time during which females were depicted as subjugated; a role that Galasko directly wanted to subvert.
The concept for 427 Wieners came to Galasko on an evening out with her girlfriends while she watched them wolf down a number of hotdogs at the P&G. “It’s not poetic, but it’s the truth. I, like many other women, had become increasingly frustrated with the idea of women existing always in relation to men – not only in films but in real life too. If you know about the Bechdel test – which asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man – you’ll know that more than half of all films fail to meet these requirements. There is an incredible movement of female artists who are attempting to counteract this, and I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to write a role for a woman with her own sense of agency, her own desires, entitlement and power.”
Galasko states that she made use of both satire and subtlety in her film as she finds them to be compelling tools for sharing ideas. “While the issues being touched on in the film are serious, had we opted for a serious and possibly even angry/moody tone, the film would be less accessible. For me, the nonchalance and tongue-in-cheek character of the film make it that much more empowering.”
With this film Galasko’s intends to give her female audience a sense of empowerment that they can identify with. There was no intention to disempower men by doing so, but to neutralize the idea of male entitlement that subjugates women. Galasko hopes that her film will leave her female audience in a space where they can identify with her lead character as well as feel empowered.
Reflecting on her process for film making Galasko tells me that she likes to establish a concept and storyboard it. She writes her scripts and ideas down in a document on her computer or scraps of paper and old receipts she finds lying around. “Eventually your mind starts to think of film pretty often, like for example the other night I woke up from an excellent dream I was having and thought it was going to be my first full-length feature. Unfortunately when I woke up I realized that it was just the plot of Harry Potter.”
Galasko had no budget for crew for this film, and had to speak to people that she knew and had a working relationship with in order to secure her crew. “I was really lucky because every single one of them is incredibly talented, which made the film what it is. My Director of Photography, Nick Gordon whom I had worked with before was immediately sold on the idea and ensured that we ran with it. From hustling for lighting and set, to being a constant support. I am grateful to have gotten to work alongside him.”
Gabrielle Kannemeyer is a Cape Town based art director and stylist who dabbles in every component of the projects she works on. Establishing herself as an unforgettable and irreplaceable brand in the creative industry she has collaborated with Rharha Nembhard, Petite Noir, Lukhanyo Mdingi, Orange Culture, Rich Mnisi, Nicholas Coutts, Wilton Dawson, 2Bop, Bevan Davis and Travys Owen in the past. Coming from a Fine Arts background, Kannemeyer’s work can be distinguished easily by means of her styling that comes to the foreground in images. In her work she celebrates and documents South African landscapes and people in a way that can only be deemed the Kannemeyer way. In my interview with the influential creative she tells me more about her background, method and shares some tips for young creatives
Kannemeyer studied Fine Arts at Michaelis in Cape Town and was introduced to various forms of expression such as painting, print making, sculpture, photography, film making, digital art, animation, typography and drawing. She specialized in photography during her studies but enjoys utilizing a variety of creative expressions to get her concepts across.
She states that working as a creative director in various mediums, she finds herself taking photographs, producing, styling, casting and art directing. The projects that she works on are at times realized with the input of many other creative minds by combining resources and strengths to create work. Kannemeyer feels that it is important to experiment with various forms of expression and avoids sticking to one medium simply because she is good at it or because it comes naturally to her. She continuously challenges herself and builds on her skill set all with the aim to become better at what she does.
“I enjoy how what I do allows me to see a world that is visibly in a state of constant flux. There is no facade of monotony. When things grow stagnant, they shift / I shift as an immediate reaction. I enjoy working with my hands. I enjoy working with people. I enjoy the challenges. I enjoy seeing ideas from my mind’s eye manifest into work. I enjoy helping young creators find their thing, that thing they fucking love doing… that feeling is a revelation for all parties involved. There’s this light that shoots through them and then it’s over…the universe makes moves for them. There are so many things I enjoy about what I do right now.”
Kannemeyer tells me that her creations are informed by what she sees in her surroundings. Perhaps it is a conversation that pulls her mind into a visual plane or perhaps a landscape that stimulates her visual senses as she drives by. She finds enjoyment in driving around the countryside for hours on end, people and landscape watching. Sauntering through Fabric City sometimes ignites her inspiration. Kannemeyer states that her ideas come from anywhere and everywhere.
In her first year at university Kannemeyer came across a book that excited her by artist Billie Zangewa, an artist who mainly works in embroidery and textiles. At the time, Kannemeyer felt lured by the thought of using textiles in her work, a material she was already familiar with as she altered and sold clothing to support her studies and exhibitions. Kannemeyer chose to make use of it in a more welcoming and forgiving environment. “Fabric has the most wonderful ability to disrupt and transport one somewhere else entirely due to how symbolic it is.”
Reflecting on her process, Gabrielle explains that from the instant a personal project, campaign or lookbook is conceptualized, she centres her thinking around how the cast/collaborators, landscapes and styling could be used to amplify the narrative behind the project. She expresses that for her it means bringing styling to the foreground. She achieves these results by simplifying the landscapes that appear behind her subjects.
Kannemeyer is currently running a co-creation studio with Imraan Christian (co-creative director), Raees Saiet (space manager), John Second (studio manager) and Keenan Oliver (assistant producer). The team of creatives developed a collaborative mentorship program operating from 103 Bree Street, Cape Town. Kannemeyer continues to explain that young creators from a variety of backgrounds are invited to enter the space and work closely with them in order to develop their skills and learn how to tell their stories. The co-creation studio has worked with young aspiring creatives including filmmakers, stylists, creative directors and photographers. The mentorships ask of the participants to build their own teams, mood boards and shot lists. Guidance is provided to them through every step of the process. The participants’ work is published onto Area3.co.za on to the CPT ‘17 tab. The images or content is then theirs to keep and the co-creation studio’s to share.
“Our idea for the co-creation studio was prompted by many things: the inaccessibility of Cape Town’s creative industry and the skills and tools needed to pursue creative careers within the industry, the need for fair representation within communities, the demand for a collaborative creative community within the city and the need for catalyzed inclusive growth of a new creative industry. We want to level the playing field as best we can.”
Kannemeyer has stirred change in the industry as a creative director and stylist and hopes to inspire young creatives with her work. Her message for young creatives is the following: “If you have questions, ask them. Everyone’s just a DM away. For real, Carpe DM.”
Elizaveta Rukavishnikova is a Russian born artist currently residing in Johannesburg. Her art functions as a mirror and is rooted in what she calls Space-Mystic Humanism. Her paintings and drawings depict haunting characters all expressed in pastel tones. In my interview with the artist we discussed her past and her creative process.
Rukavishnikova grew up in post Soviet Russia during times of turmoil, when Perestroika took a hold of the Union. Perestroika was a political agenda aimed at restructuring the Soviet political and economic system, and occurred during the 1980s and lasted until 1991. With the fall of the Soviet Union came new waves in culture and social life. The collapse of the Union created more freedom for the people of Russia.
“Living in the Soviet Union you couldn’t be different in any way. People had a common idea, and everyone had to look the same, stand in line and if you happened to not be like everyone, people would judge you and it could have led to trouble. With the collapse of the union, young people were up for everything new that came from overseas and lots of subcultures took over their minds. For the older generation it was a huge struggle to adjust to the new situation in Russia.”
Rukavishnikova was raised by her grandmother. Growing up in an anti-American propaganda age, Rukavishnikova was able to only watch black and white soviet union cartoons as a child and would play outside in the cold snow of Moscow.
‘Kitty pink tank in a desert of colonialism ‘
“My first exhibition happened when I was 3 years old. I painted lots of pictures and glued them all on new wallpaper, which my family didn’t appreciate, I think. My love for art was born with me. All my life I wanted to be an artist. I always painted and loved going to museums. Russia is a very cultural country with many museums and large collections to see. I grew up watching all the world famous artists.”
Losing her family support when she was still a child, Rukavishnikova had to fend for herself from a very young age. After school there were not many opportunities for her to study art because of the cost, so she decided to attend a teacher training collage that was free of charge. Rukavishnikova expresses a deep love for learning about different cultures and tells me that during her time at the teacher’s training college Arabic language courses were her escape.
At the time Rukavishnikova found a free art class for kids and asked if she could be a part of the class. The teacher consented to her request and made room for her to have private drawing lessons. After her time at the teacher’s training college, Rukavishnikova had a desire to study art and got into university by winning an art competition. Leaving her studies uncompleted because of finances, she had to work full time. She expresses that this was an extremely heartbreaking development for her as she believed that she would never be able to be an artist unless she had the relevant qualifications.
She sought out jobs that would allow her to be creative and found an advert in a newspaper for a shop window decorator. Dividing her time between decorating shop windows in Moscow, painting and drawing, Rukavishnikova never lost hope that one day she would make something of her artistic inclinations. Following her heart and passion, she left her job and started traveling. Rukavishnikova’s time spent in India is where her career began to take flight.
‘Tank in my heart’
“I think such things as style of painting will die soon for modern artists. I think the idea of modern art is for everyone to have their own style and call it as they want. Mine will be Space-Mystic humanism.” Rukavishnikova feels that painting and drawing are the best way for her to express what she wants to share with people. “I think that at the moment, I’m trying to make my language work in painting. I love colours. When I hear music for example, I can see the colours of each and every sound. All ABC letters have their own colour in my head, in Russian and in English. All sounds, smells around me have colours and I always see it.”
Expressing that her artworks never have a single message she describes her art as a mirror. “People see what they want to see, very often I can find out more about a person by listening to how they respond to my art.” Creating new worlds within her art, people play a big part in these new worlds that she paints and draws. Rukavishnikova is interested in seeing people from different angles and showing her view of her subjects in her art, creating something new, a new world of pastel craze.
Rukavishnikova is currently drawn to sky blue, pink and pastel colours. Expressing that her colour choices often come to her after her concept, she states that the experience of the process is always different for her. “My life is an artwork, why can’t you be an artwork? Art can save the world and I hope it’s going in that direction. What can be painted on a canvas can be made real.”
Elizaveta’s art is currently about Russia and her new experiences on a different continent. She finds enjoyment in putting these two cultural layers together on canvas.“Its so interesting to see it together. Cold, huge Russia with its history and current political situation. Russia which I know and see, and Africa, a different place with opposite weather, nature and people. I’m learning more and more about African cultures. Trying to feel more of Africa. My works are a lot about people’s rights in Russia. I want to bring people to a new way of looking at themselves. I think its very important, to bring respect and love to each other by learning each others traditions and cultures.”
Rukavishnikova will have her first solo exhibition with Kallashnikovv gallery in September of this year.
San Francisco Bay artist, Jeffrey Cheung who is also known as a master of zines, established Unity Skateboarding in February 2017. Southern California surfers changed the rules of skateboarding ultimately in the 1970s by moving the sport’s focus from its more technical competition routine components, to skating in empty pools. This move made by what is known as the Z-Boys, specifically Tony Alva, Jay Adams, and Stacey Peralta, created the framework for the modern skate mentality. This new mentality makes room for community and individualism in chorus and proudly creates a non-conformist platform. It is surprising that despite the fact that skating’s spirit has been rooted in inclusivity, no professional skateboarders were openly queer up until quite recently with the coming out of pro skateboarder, Brian Anderson.
Brian Anderson, named Thrasher’s Skater of the Year, came out publicly in September 2016 in a Vice Sports video, discussing skate culture’s history of homophobia with openness and compassion. The public release of the video met with an outburst of support. Unity Skateboards, the new California-based company, is therefore another important step in fostering inclusivity and ease the marginalization that is still, a reality for the queer community today.
Photograph by Vivian Fu
Cheung, who has lived and skated in the California area all his life, created the face of Unity by hand painting naked bodies of various sizes and skin tones in loving embraces on skate decks. These decks featuring boobs, butts, hugs, and words like “Unity: together as one”, display the all-embracing nature and proud queer ethos that Unity has at heart.
Stating that the idea to start his own queer skate company came into actualization when he started skating with other gay skaters for the first time, Cheung had initially hoped to start a skate crew. Cheung realized that they knew many queer skateboarders and decided to start hand-painting boards and the company grew from there. Brian Anderson’s officially coming out and female skate companies also inspired Cheung to mold Unity.
“I thought about myself when I was a teenager — that it would have been so life changing for me if there was a queer skate company with gay skaters. It would have been reaffirming of who I was during a very confusing and challenging time, and I feel that is the same for most queer teenagers. So that is what I hope Unity Skateboards will be for queer youth and queer people out there: an encouraging and positive force.’’ – Cheung stated in an interview with Vice earlier this year.
Photograph by Vivian Fu
The idea behind Unity was to promote queer pride in skateboarding, and to prioritize queer skaters. By making Unity an all-inclusive project, Cheung hopes that it will play a part in the breaking down of barriers.
“I am very happy to see that Brian Anderson has received a tremendous amount of support since coming out. I think that makes a big difference in the skate world and especially for queer teens coming out today. It’s funny that skateboarding — which is something that stemmed from going against the mainstream — can also be so much a part of that same heteronormative culture. Unfortunately, there are a lot of ignorant and close-minded people out there, but I have faith in the momentum that is happening and am appreciative of that. I know I can’t be the only one who is inspired to do something like this; there must be many other queer skate projects in the works right now, and I hope the future of skateboarding will be more accessible for women and queer people of color.” – Cheung tells Vice in an interview.
Cheung aspires to combat homophobia, sexism and racism with Unity while creating a space for queer youth to feel included and proud of who they are.
Abbie Stirrup probes expressive, performance wear as a fashion designer and performance artist. The nucleus of Stirrup’s expression is the mixture of movement, performance, and art. Stirrup is known for making use of her own body as a canvas and analyzing how the human body can be amplified.
By utilizing performance and spatial design as a student at the Royal College of Art (RCA), Stirrup contested the formal fashion process. Her design vision has been related to numerous disciplines, one of them being a second skin body suit for adidas. After her work with adidas, Stirrup was asked to attend the Creator Farm in Brooklyn, thereby aiming to influence and examine the unfolding of sportswear advancement.
The ideology of S T I R was created for Stirrup’s RCA graduating collection. S T I R can be described as a loud neon pallet that utilizes a visual language moving beyond society’s contemporary understanding of human body identification, into a world that is uniquely designed of expression and freedom.
Stirrup’s Masters consisted of a live artwork, ‘Goose Pimples Live Performance’. This piece looked at a second skin, tracing the route of human consciousness while valuing the energy that flows beneath the surface. Pigmented silicone is put on naked skin and replaces it. Molding without limit, the silicone skin that Stirrup applies is seamless and runs through the crevices of the human form. Tracing the energy of human bodies, the silicone indicates where our marma points are – points activating our inner pharmacy. Stirrup asks the following question in this performance; ‘can silicone skins be designed for nutritional consumption?’
“We don’t have to confine to existing systems. Live art has no boundaries of self. It is without rules. The smudge, the drip, the crumble. This is the intensity in which I see.”
The streets of Newtown, Braam, Maboneng and Troyeville carry the mark of Opia and her haunting eye illustrations. Lauren Opia is the 19-year-old graffiti artist coming from a private school background. Practicing art in a scene commonly thought of as a boys club she contributes to giving girl culture new meaning.
Opia was born in Johannesburg and has lived in the city her entire life. Expressing that she has always leaned more towards the creative side, she has enjoyed making art ever since she can remember. Opia tells me that when she started with art, she never had a distinct point that she was hoping to convey. From a young age Opia was continuously expressing herself with art because of the gratification she got from it, despite the fact that there aren’t creative people in her family.
Stating that she is unsure of how her passion for graffiti was ignited, she believes that it was a mixture of influences. Opia has been exposed to a large amount of graffiti art from living in Jo’burg, a city that has an abundance of murals and graffiti art that regularly shape shifts into newer displays. Going through a hip hop culture phase, she desired most of all to do art that was different from what the rest of the kids sharing her background were doing.
“I definitely didn’t think that I would take this route. If someone were to tell me three years ago that I would be a graffiti artist, I would have just laughed and shrugged it off.”
Opia expresses that it took time to develop her style, and that she is persistently working on improving and perfecting it. “When I started painting, I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my own work. I focused too much on being like other artists and thinking about what other people would like to see. It was only when I started using the colours that I like and started painting what I would like to see painted in the city that my style began to develop. Ironically, people then started to like my work more anyway.”
The word ‘Opia’ is a fabricated word created by a psychologist signifying the abstruse intensity of looking into someone’s eyes. A feeling that can be experienced as invasive and vulnerable in chorus. Opia explains that she chose this pseudonym, as it is how she feels when creating her work for the public to see, as well as the fact that it ties in with the use of eyes in her graffiti pieces that are her signature. “Just like most artists, I put a lot of myself into my art so sharing it with others is quite terrifying. However, I hope that there are some people that feel simultaneously invasive and vulnerable when viewing my graffiti instead of it just being a background for a teenager’s selfie.”
Opia has a tendency to make use of blues and purples with traces of yellows and pinks in her work. In our interview Opia communicated to me that her process is particularly intuitive and that she does not have a meaning in mind when she initially starts transforming the canvases that she works on; the walls of the city she sees around her. Her work is comprised of surreal worlds, worlds that are an escape for her, and are an expression of what is going on in her mind.
Identifying as a tomboy and growing up with boys has contributed to Opia’s comfort in the graffiti scene commonly thought of as a men’s world. “Obviously, being a girl, it’s a lot more dangerous for me to go out and paint somewhere, especially in town. So unfortunately I don’t paint in public places as frequently as I would like to. That is the only negative side to it. Being a female in a mostly male-dominated subculture has made me an anomaly that has provided a wave of opportunities which I’m really grateful for.”
Opia expresses that despite her introverted nature she finds a significant deal of inspiration from people. Other facets that inspire her work are cinematography and interesting set designs in films. She tells me that Mars (a Johannesburg based graffiti artist) has been an inspiration and motivation for her. Opia believes that his colour palettes, fades,compositions and line work are perfect and what all artists strive for.
The young graffiti artist’s message for other young women wanting to pursue the art is to, “Practice, practice, practice.” Opia has met a number of people that told her that they had tried to spray paint but couldn’t get it right. “Just like all other media, spray paint is something that is not perfected after a couple of hours. I still have a long way to go but each time I paint it gets easier and I learn more. Don’t feel pressured to do what other artists are doing. Just paint something that you are passionate about. It will give you more fulfillment and it will show in your work.”
At the moment Opia is taking a gap year and has taken on design internships, practicing art, looking for inspiration and doing short courses.
