One where we literally play with fire and perhaps even conjure some spirits?
Read MoreWêreld Records (World Records)
WARNING: Image heavy post coming up.
Roughly a week and a half ago we saw the launch of Wêreld Records. Prior to that I was working like a bat out of hell to photograph the launch acts. 7 artists in total, 2 of whom are group acts.
I could easily have had them all come in on one evening and sit down and shot the exact same image, but that was never an option. They're all different artists, with diverse music styles and influences and I'd be damned if I just worked through them like a conveyer belt.
I still have several more artist portraits to shoot and I am really looking forward to some new concepts and ideas and input from them on how we will capture these images.
For now, here are the seven launch acts I photographed. For more on what Wêreld Records is you can go check out their website and Facebook.
Franco, a.k.a. Franx does some killer solo bass; looping and layering it with vocals on top.
This is Matthieu Auriacombe a.k.a Hello Beautiful.
Alex Parker and Jean-Louise Nel make up Academie.
The mad electronica wizard that will most likely make your brain short circuit, Jacob Israel.
Charlie Higson's soothing melodies will definitely lull you to sweet slumber.
For some reason Givan Lötz's voice reminds me a little of Ashton Nyte (in a good way though). The music is slower though and has this really beautiful drone to it.
Last, but not least; a Skyline on Fire. Good friends of mine. Great music.
Hong Kong. Unfortunately what I saw of HK was only from the airport, so it's definitely a place I want to come back and visit.
Work Hard & Do Good Work
It's Tuesday morning, shortly after 8am, I've just finished my morning exercise routine, made myself a cup of coffee and I am getting ready to get behind my laptop when my phone rings.
Pack your bags and get your VISA ready, you are flying to China in a week; says the voice on the other end of the line. It's one of my clients - and I'd like to think; friends - Charl du Plessis. Remember him? I photographed him for his latest album? No?
Here's a refresher :)
Charl wanted me to fly with him to Haikou, China where he would be performing on four different Steinway & Sons pianos in one recital. (You can find out more about the pianos on Charl's blog). Without any hesitation I went to the Chinese consulate & got an express VISA - a fancy term for paying twice as much :P
The next Thursday we were on a plane headed to China. Now I am not being a braggart, you should know this about me. I am not showing off.
What I am trying to convey is that, if you work hard and do good work, you'll get that one client (or several) that will become a friend and a lifelong collaborator and that's what I am trying to build. Sure, I want to work with new people, however, keeping communications open with previous clients will lead to many other doors being opened and great, lasting friendships.
Here are a few images from the performance.
And some, where I wandered the back alleys and side streets.
Thanks for reading
Droughts & Floods
Things have been quiet on the regular blog front, but for more up to date news you can check out my America adventures here. I'm currently busy with a new post about my west coast trip with the Arias family.
I am also in the "throes" of commissioned work for a local SA band, but I am keeping it close to the chest for the time being. Those who know, know what I am talking about ;)
I posted a little sneak peek on my Instagram feed or you can just look at it right here. The album will be titled; "The Reigns", more than that I won't divulge, but I will be doing some posts about each piece as it develops and try to explain my thought process without giving too much away.
Droughts & Floods: Detail
So the idea behind the photos were to do in-camera multiple/double exposures, but after playing around with it and doing tests I found it to be a little trickier than I had anticipated and decided to change direction a little bit. The picture above might not even be the final image for this particular piece. I'm not too certain how happy I am with it yet, but for now it's a good start.
I need to find a few more models and shoot more plates. The plates will be used for the overlay/texture that I am adding to the images in post. This too is tricky, coz there are so many blending options and ways to go about it and move the texture around and warp it and it's driving me nuts, coz I keep second guessing, but that's just the usual path of my "creative" process :)