Carvelas = Cash

After directing the LV feat Okmalumkoolkat music video last year I got a new fascination with the Skhotane culture of South Africa. Everyone has an opinion on it and as per usual no one really knows anything about it. I decided to go out and spend some time in Orange Farm with my colleague Sello who runs the Real Action Pantsula Dance crew. He introduced me to some of the guys and it was interesting to see how and what the culture was all about.

Sello was more interested in the dance moves performed by the groups and we both had vast discussions around the way that Pantsula culture back in the day had very negative connotations surrounding it as guys used to commit crime to be able to afford the fashion they wore too and it too has been said that young Skhotanes will go to any measure to be able to afford their flashy clothes. However the group I met was mostly funded by one guy who had received a large payout from the road accident fund after been in an accident. 

I decided to publish a story purely about their shoes, most of them a brand called Carvela, which is made in Italy and supposedly designed for driving sports cars, hence the reason why the boxes that they pose with have picture of Lambo's and Porche's on them. I also decided that in a culture which is mostly about been recognised it would be poignant to not show any of the faces of my subjects thus not buying into the culture. The story was published in the Paris based Clam magazine and you can see the article below.

The work was recently on exhibit at The Circa gallery in Rosebank, Johannesburg as part of a larger group show. I named the series at the exhibition Carvelas = Cash. 

CT 2012

S'Phara Phara video piece

The thought of my exhibition almost been over is haunting me, its been a month and it feels like days. On that note, I wanted to upload my video piece which was on display at the exhibition in The Resolution Gallery.

The video piece is the culmination of other experimentation with other videos I shot while at Fabrica, originally I was commissioned by The United Colors of Benetton to shoot a video piece which could be used in the video installation walls in their stores of the acclaimed Johannesburg fashion collective the Smarteez. Unfortunately we shot it but it never came to fruition. So I decided to shoot another similar video for my exhibition on the Real Action Pantsula dance crew, this time learning from the mistakes I had made last time and getting to work with the amazing editor Malcolm Che' to finish it off.

The S'Phara Phara exhibition will be up till the 17th September at The Resolution Gallery in Johannesburg.

CT 2011. 

Gazelle Music Video.

Today I went out with my good Colleague's from Gazelle and we shot their new music video for a collaboration track called 'Speak Up', which they have been performing live.

The video is a secret but for now here are some shots from the shoot.

CT 11

Kenya Pt 1. Obama Fever

For the past two weeks I have been based out of Nairobi Kenya. I was up shooting a project for COLE ACP who are part of the European Commission. They help farmers to lift the quality of their food and teach them better farming techniques, lifting them to a standard which can be exported. They assist through the whole agriculture industry and have made a fast difference.

While their I spent a ton of time on different farms, from smallholders to Organic. While on a farm called Sunripe I came across one of the pesticide sprayers wearing a pink Obama shirt. Ominous and fashionable. In Kenya they have total Obama fever, so this was one of the few items I got to capture while on the trip. Some went by so fast, I saw a bus with Michelle Obama we love you written on the back and I bought some Kenyan fabric with his portrait printed onto it too. Amazing, he has inspired so many people in Kenya and even if he isn't getting the support in his own country he will always have Kenya.

Colors 78 'Dance' Pantsula

I have been dying to put this story up on my blog and now that the new Colors magazine is hitting the shelves its a pleasure to do so. I researched, photographed and produced a video on the 'Real Actions' Pantsula dance crew.

The story is about a group of dancers from Orange Farm South Africa called 'Real Actions'. They are a Pantsula dance crew from one of the most infamous townships in Johannesburg, South Africa, Orange Farm. The dance itself comes from Tsotsi (South African township gangsters) culture which has very negative stereotypes attached to it. The groups founders decided to use the dance form in a positive way and initiated a community uplifment program where they gave guys from the area the opportunity to use their dance skills in a public sphere (generating income) as well teach more kids from the area how to Dance.

I headed off one day into the township with Millisuthando Bongela (local writer) to meet the guys. We took a taxi off into the township where I was shown the ropes and allowed to view an area I had always been to scared or naive to enter previously. The following shots and video where created.

To see all the other Colors videos visit the Colors magazine youtube channel here. 

One of the dancers shows me the inside of his tin shack in the backyard of someone elses house. 

Outside his house with his mother. 

The beauty of the dance is it is performed on the street anywhere and anytime. 

The guys prepare themselves for practice in the local community hall.