Winter is coming.

I have been noticing the changes towards winter. The Sun rising a little bit later each morning. The chilly morning air.

Another thing is the birds. Especially the Swallows.

Swallows flying around in the morning.
Swallows: Before the winter.

On this particular morning there were roughly 50 birds, give or take. I walked to them and they sat perched on the telephone lines. They sit and talk to each other with their chirpy noises.

As I walk by I can hear it go quiet. And then they fly around. Milling around in the air without a care. It is almost as if I can feel their excitement for the change in the seasons.

I’m looking forward to Winter this year. Especially the mornings. I’ve found over the last five years these are the best time for me to take photos. I was born in August and I’ve always enjoyed the colder seasons more. The blues of the sky seem a lot brighter.

I’ve set myself a simple goal – photos on each day of the fall season. Afterwards put them together and share them. Perhaps in the format of a zine.

Thanks for reading : )

Letting your photos marinate.

I enjoy taking photos, letting them marinate on the hard drive and a few months later looking at them. This is not something I did when I started taking photos.

I’d snap, upload, edit within such a short space. I never gave the photos a change to evolve. I didn’t give myself a chance to think about why I or what story am I telling.

I am trying to change this.

Enjoy the images : )

Mannequins

Mannequins.
Trolleys.
Trolleys.
Garbage Trap.
Garbage cage.
Breakfast
Breakfast.
Making a light.
Checking your phone.
Bicycles.
Waiting.

The madness of the world.

It’s Sunday afternoon.

I had a coffee earlier this morning at a place I used to boycott. The main reason I used to support them because they had one thing going for them. It wasn’t their excellent coffee. It wasn’t their outstanding service.

It was the fact that on any given morning, with a few exceptions, I would arrive there and they’d be open.

For a few years I’d go there every single day. Monday to Saturday because I would have coffee before work, or go the gym and then have coffee. On Sundays because I didn’t have to go to work and spent the morning doing photography before having coffee.

Why did I boycott them after years of support you ask?

Simple economics. Overnight their coffee price jumped from R15 to R27.90. At the time of this absurd increase I contacted them to find out what justified it?

Their answer: inflation.

Not a bad answer because everything is going up. At the time South Africa was going through severe loadshedding. This meant lots of time spent running generators and buying fuel to keep your business open.

But almost 100% increase? This while all other coffee serving establishments only put up their prices with perhaps R1 or R2 per cup.

Long story short I was sitting there this morning and thinking about how crazy the world is today. Presidents wanting to be kings. Politicians playing russian roulette with their people’s lives. Loadshedding back in South Africa. It’s sad for people in power to fulfill their own wants and needs over those of their electorate. I’m not up to speed on all the politics of the day but I know an asshole or two when I see them.

With all the negative stuff out of the way, I hope you have a great Sunday : )

PS. I am in the process of setting up my online store where I will be selling some of my photos. If you’re reading this from sunny (with no electricity) South Africa then you are welcome to contact me via my social channels and I can help you to get the print you want set up on a canvas.

Morning routine.

The LED light from my phone carves the morning darkness and leaves shadows on my desk. The pen I use to write being mirrored by its shadow counterpart on paper.

Kettle spinning up in the background. It’s excitement will be heard in a few seconds as it starts to whistle at me. High pitched and commanding. A little steam engine on the way to nowhere. After a few minutes the metallic juggernaut is quiet and a warm cup of coffee is my reward.

Another day ahead. Empty and pointless conversations. Back and forth with witty comebacks and discussions on all the troubles which plague us. Makes me realize how ungrateful humans are. The curse of retail. You learn so much about people that you learn too much about them.

Outside the sun hasn’t shown up yet. A sip of coffee. I definitely drink too much of it. But I need it. It’s my vice.

Slow down. listening to Donnie Vincent. he’s saying I should slow down. Perhaps he is right. No, he is right. I am burning myself at both ends. The rat race swallows up everything like a tsunami and spits out survivors.

Writing in the mornings, I love it. I feel it waking me up, invigorating me.

For now, it’s time to brush my teeth. It’s almost time to join the rat race again.”