Bubblegum Club

Tag: Cahil Sankar

  • Cahil Sankar: making waves with documentary photography

    Cahil Sankar: making waves with documentary photography

    Cahil Sankar has gained popularity with his vivid motion blurring band photography. Sankar shoots interchangeably between digital and analog, and has a particular fondness for Fujifilm. “I think I just picked up my dad’s old camera when I was super young and just never stopped taking photos,” he explained when asked about where his interest in photography came from. As one of the artists selected to exhibit in the AUTONOMY WAVE Future 76 exhibition, I had a conversation with him about his work.

    Marcia Elizabeth (ME): How do you like to describe your art? Which photography style do your images fall under?

    Cahil Sankar (CS): I would describe my art as a way of documenting narratives that aren’t told. I would classify my photography as more documentary photography than anything else.

    ME: What is your background? Where did you grow up? What are you currently doing? Are you working on any current projects?

    CS: I grew up in JHB and went to school at St David’s. I am currently studying creative brand communications at Vega, specializing in multimedia design. I think my photography has always been an ongoing work. I do not necessarily work on specific projects but my work is just a culmination of images. And I think my photography definitely influences what my designs look like.

    ME: Who are the people that you photographed?  

    CS: I worked quite a bit with bands. I have worked with the Tazers, Soul Gems and The Moths. I work with them a lot and the rest is just random people that you see on the streets.

    ME: In a lot of your band photography you play around with shutter speed. Is that something you conceptualize or is it something that just happened and became a thing?

    CS: I think it happened because I refused to use a flash in my band photography. I use natural light. I played with how low you can take your shutter speed while still getting a clear image. When you push that you get movement. So it stemmed from not using a flash.

    ME: What are your views on Future 76 and the artists that are exhibiting? Do you know some of the other artists you will be working with?

    CS: The project itself is such an awesome platform. It is great to be working with Bubblegum Club and I am privileged to be working with some of the best young artists in Johannesburg. I am just so happy to be working with everyone. If I’ve not met them, I have seen most of them online. We are all a part of the same circle.

    Do you think that your art will work well with the other artists exhibiting?

    CS: It will be a challenge to get it to mesh with the other art forms. My approach is to document and not really to create. I think once we get it to work together it will be pretty cool.

    ME: In this month will you be focusing mainly on photography or are you going to bring in other elements of your creativity?

    CS: I think I will be focusing mainly on photography but different to what I normally do because I will be collaborating with the other artists and try to merge the different styles of art.

    ME: What is the future vision you have for your art?

    CS: I am hesitant to pursue photography as a career because I fear falling into the trap of spending my life shooting weddings or commercial photography. I looked at other creative fields and came across multimedia design and fell in love. I will always do photography but it won’t be my main source of income.

    ME: I was having a look at your work on Instagram and came across a project where you took some images in a butchery. I found that very interesting. Can you tell me more about this project?

    CS: The project started as an assignment from Vega. The assignment was to go into a space that makes you feel uncomfortable or a space that you didn’t really ever interact with. We went to a Halaal butchery in Mayfair to see what it was all about. We were also attempting to remove some of the stigma around Halaal meat. We documented everything that happens behind the counters. What happens behind the counters; to show what people don’t see.

    ME: Do you think that you have a visual signature?

    CS: I think over the past 3 years my photography has changed a lot. I went from shooting a lot of black and white to shooting super high contrast colour. In the last few months I have settled on shooting low saturation colour. I think you will be able to tell from my perspective or what I am shooting that it is me. But I am not sure that you will be able to tell specifically from the look of the image that it is mine. So you are getting the same perspective, it is just the style has changed.

    ME:  Are you trying to convey any kind of message with what you are doing?

    CS: I feel like my work is quite subjective. Depending on who looks at it they will see a differently story or feel a different emotion. I don’t need my work to have a meaning. I feel like the viewer will make a meaning. It depends on what I am shooting though. With the project where I was shooting at the butchery there was a clear narrative behind all the images. But if I am shooting band photography I am just trying to capture the emotion.

    ME: Would you say that you have found your voice as a visual artist?

    CS: I would say I have found a voice, not my voice yet. I have been able to tell certain narratives but there is also stuff that I wouldn’t be comfortable putting out there yet. Just because of the social climate in our country you can’t just say whatever you want to say.

    ME: Do you feel like you and your work are a fair representation of South African youth?

    CS: No. My work is a very narrow view of South African youth. I’m from a privileged background so you are not going to see what the majority of South African youth is actually like. You are getting my perspective not an overall perspective of South Africa.

    ME: Are there specific issues that your generation is faced with that are not voiced? And if so would you attempt to voice them during the Future 76 exhibition?

    CS: I think there is a lot that is not spoken about, a lot that is pushed under the carpet. I think if I find the right mode of talking about it then I will.

  • AUTONOMY WAVE: Future 76 // Meeting the Artists

    The exhibition Future 76 under AUTONOMY WAVE will take place on the 30th of June. We would like to introduce the artists who will be collaborating for this exhibition.

    Jéad Stehr @mistehrjead

    “I borrowed my dad’s camera one day when I was 12, promising to return it after I took a few shots, and to this day I still haven’t brought it back to him. At first, it was arbitrary subjects, like clouds or a pipe that looked interesting, but as I started to fall more in love with working with the camera, the more I loved coming up with concepts and being able to relay the idea through the camera. I loved the ability to communicate an idea to someone that would be indescribable otherwise. The act of transferring your thoughts to another person. It’s a way of changing beliefs and opinions.

    Generally, I write long pieces or poems to accompany my work. Sort of like a description trying to capture the essence of the photo. Sometimes the poem inspires the photo, and other times I scramble for words to bring meaning to my work. I like subverting the viewer’s intentions and serving up ideas and ideals that make a viewer think. A lot of the time I like to work with models of colour because I’m very passionate about creating a safe space for POC. Where they can look at a piece and relate to it themselves, which is something we don’t get to do often in the media.

    I really like the idea of this project. Giving the youth a platform to exhibit themselves is so important in a country where funding for the arts is lacking and we are in dire need of fresh creative talent. The broader theme of self-narration in relation to the city is also quite perfect for me. We are going through a time, not only in Johannesburg, but South Africa as a whole, where hate is running rampant, and I think this project could be used to bring a mirror to the behavior and actions we are constantly being bombarded with via the media.”

    Doodle by Jéad Stehr

     

    Seth Pimentel @african_ginger

    “My name is Seth Pimentel.

    I’m a 22 year old illustrator and visual artist.

    I was born and raised in the city of gold, Johannesburg.

    My art comes from a side of me I don’t like. It stems from my own self deprecating thoughts. Sometimes your greatest motivation is your own self hatred. I know that’s rather macabre, but sometimes pain is the greatest catalyst of growth.  I illustrate, so I draw whatever I feel and whatever I think flows from me. It’s in itself is my own therapy.

    I’m a young artist in my city; I fall into the category of the youth. This is our month, and this is our opportunity to create together. We learn and love from our collective creativity shared.”

    Doodle by Seth Pimentel

     

    Cahil Sankar @cahil

    “My Name is Cahil Sankar, and I’m a 19 year old Photographer from Johannesburg. I started taking photos from a very young age, and found that it was one of the few things I could not stop doing. Having severe ADHD, I was surprised at how something as simple as picking up an old point and shoot camera, could suddenly quieten my mind. Photography allowed me a stillness that I hadn’t ever experienced before.

    My mom worked for the ANC’s intelligence structures during the Apartheid era, and I feel that that has strongly influenced my political ideas as well as the images I am drawn to capture.  Through my photography, I aim to hopefully, portray honest and vulnerable narratives and emotions of my subject matter. I feel that being able to observe other peoples’ stories, has allowed me to shape my own narrative as a person of colour in our society. Having the creative freedom to interact with so many different people, I have come to realise how important creativity and the arts are, in terms of youth self-empowerment.

    South Africa has a large number of talented youth, and because of this I feel incredibly privileged to have been given this opportunity to work in collaboration with some brilliant young artists. Thank you Bubblegum Club.”

    Doodle by Cahil Sankar

     

    Mariam Petros @disorganizedgoat

    Mariam Ekaterini Petros, born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Inspired by artists like Tretchikoff, Kahlo and Dali. Petros is on the path of discovering her individual style. She works predominately with ink but practices with a variety of mediums. She attended the National School of the Arts. Petros participated in the Youth Arts Massif Exhibition in 2016 at the King Kong Building in Johannesburg. Petros is currently a tattoo apprentice at the Emerald Rain Tattoo Parlor and is studying Printmaking at The Artist Proof Studio.

    “I’m drawn to the project in a sense that I find it difficult to display my art on platforms other than on social media, with a disadvantage of being a part of the youth art culture, this project forms an opportunity that creates a platform for youth artists. I’m especially interested in this project in particular as it is based in the CBD which I’ve grown up in and have always had a love/hate relationship with. I’m looking forward to exploring the different tasks that come with this project and being able to collaborate with fellow young artists.”

    Doodle by Mariam Petros

     

    Abi & Claire Meekel @meek.meekier.meekest

    “The Meëk journey began 2 years ago. Meek is ultimately a movement and a social experiment to see how many people will follow and be inspired by what Meëk does. We love working together with other artists to expand this movement. It will be interesting to see how meek can collaborate with some of the artists in the Bubblegum project.

    I’m eager to use the given space as a medium to expand Meëk as a sort of progressive installation. This meaning that both Claire and I have discussed that we will do several illustrations, paintings, prints, small sculptures that merge into the space, so that it becomes a small little world that the viewers can partake in. We will definitely photograph and document our progress on social media so that our audience can grasp our context and creative process. The idea is that we inspire youth to create their own art. Show people that we are young artists ready to create and speak to the world, and that we are not confined by the existing art world. There aren’t limitations; we are in an infinite dimension.

    A little bit about Meëk:

    We have a list of mediums we work with some of which include animation, illustration, film, embroidery, sculptures, installations, design, graffiti, fashion and painting. It is interesting to work with different mediums because it also allows us to explore and progress. A valuable concept in the existence of Meëk is that it travels through different forms and dimensions which embodies the main concept. Meëk is our left foot. It’s a part of us but it isn’t everything. It is not who we individually are as artists. Meek simply is; a collaboration, a part of the two of us. We still have a few more worlds to show you.

    Sound and Photography are important mediums that I often experiment with but I mostly work with these mediums outside of Meëk, individually.”

    Doodles by The Meeks

    Photography by Marcia Elizabeth