Since Obama came to town

The blog has been extremely quiet, for two reasons. One, I have been working my ass off this year and it seems the older I get the more I take on and the less time I have to post work up. But alas, with the down time over Christmas the plan is to post a ton of work that I have collected over the year. The second reason is I have been working on some new personal projects. You will hear a lot more about next year.

In this post is an image I shot recently while working on my book on Pantsula, the dance culture from South Africa. While this image has nothing to do with the subjects in the book it was a guy that I met at a tavern in Moklakeng township on Johannesburg's West Rand. 

He was obsessed with the American flag and dressed head to toe. I asked him why and his answer was, 'Since Obama came to town I am obsessed with him.'

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US Memories. Albuquerque Hot Rods.

Finally after a year of deliberately avoiding my images from my 45 day trip across the USA and subsequent trip up the west coast 101 highway to San Francisco, I have decided to start editing and posting some of the shots I took on the epic journey. 

Took the image above while in Alburquerque staying in a Bed Bug infested hotel called the 'Blue Hotel', it was downtown in a supposed bad part of town. If it wasn't for the constant itching while trying to sleep I really liked it. 

I was staying close to the main street downtown on a Sunday night, the night where all the folks from the 'Ghetto's' get together and show off their modified muscle cars, this American tradition which was mostly followed by folk from South of the border is called cruising. 

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Ron Adler, Arizona USA

On this journey I have had the pleasure to meet some pretty amazing and bizarrely interesting people. Often I stack the shots up on my laptop and promise myself that I will post them as soon as I can. Today I got to meet Ron Adler and Theresa at 'All Bikes' just outside of Payson Arizona on the way to Phoenix. Ron has for the past 30 years collected and sold second hand motorcycle's and bikes. He has a yard with thousands of them and I was lucky enough to come across it. I spent hours chatting with him and his mechanic Theresa in their yard about bikes and life.

Thanks Ron for been so accommodating and knowledgable, people like you make this world worth exploring. 

The journey continues with 2 weeks and counting till we reach Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, California. 

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Theresa, Ron's right hand mechanic. 

People come from all over to find this place, California, Finland even other South African's supposedly. 

Swimming in Arizona

While on my trip through the USA I haven't had much time to edit footage or make many videos as we spend alot of our time filling up the van, cleaning and of course filming. Every week we get one day off and this day off I decided to do something with the Go Pro which I recently bought before coming on the journey. I didn't know what to expect, but am pleasantly surprised by the results. We went swimming in a small town in Arizona which we stayed the night in called St John's. Good times, enjoying summer.

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A short video by Chris Saunders & Shaun Stander.

Here is a short edit of something Shaun & I recently shot here in the USA while trailing Jon beeby on his journey across the USA. 

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Shaun Stander and a portrait a day.

On my current journey through the USA where we are documenting the journey of Jon Beeby's walk across the vast country, I have been working alongside my good friend and fellow film maker / photographer Shaun Stander. I studied with Shaun at the National College of Photography in 2003 and we haven't seen much of each other since he immigrated to Canada 3 years ago.

We have been shooting a portrait a day. Shaun has posted some of the images the shot of me on his blog:  http://shaunstander.blogspot.com/

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20th June 2011 - Oklahoma

22nd June 2011 - Texas

24th June 2011 - Amarillo, Texas

28th June 2011 - New Mexico

29th June - New Mexico

26th June 2011 - New Mexico

What was paradise?

Travelling through the USA these past two weeks down the historic route 66 has been an eye opener too the world that was, the iconic United States of America. Off the main I-40 highway lies a huge refuge of old Cars, Motels and gas stations. This journey has given us the time (Shaun & I) to travel this historic route and its side roads (which we sometimes end up on some evenings and chatting on the roof of the RV under the stars) inch by inch. With that in mind, I have realised that these places where once thriving towns with people commuting in and out of them. In the late 1960's when the I-40 highway was completed, traffic now bypassed alot of these old towns which intern turned the tap on their economic main vein. It seems people packed their suitcases and left immediately, leaving ghost towns behind.

Even in the towns where people still coincide there is a feeling of quietness,
where people once drove now people fly,
where once there was natural resources now there is a hole in the ground.

We have now left the Texas Panhandle and are heading up to Sant Fe' in New Mexico where we will spend the weekend.

Today people trawl this historic route to see the relics of yester year. In my next blog update I will post some more on the people that I have met along the route.


CT 2011

A wheel chair inside a military surplus store in Amarillo Texas.

Jeff showing me his beard which is now half its length, we will see more of him in later blog updates.

On the side of the service road for the Interstate 40 Shaun & I find another abandoned flea market and gas station. 

Yes, An abandoned boat in a corn field. The Texas Pandhandle.

The Historic Route 66 border into New Mexico. 

An old year book (1980) inside an abandoned motel on the Historic Ruote 66. We later met the son of the original owners he keeps everything as original as possible and feels very negatively about selling it all, I like him more when he tells me this. 

This made me imagine a scene in a 1950's post apocalyptic move. 

Shaun fooling around in the abandoned boat we found.

WAY TO FAR AWAY

So I've hit the road once again. Im in the midwest of the United States of America documenting a guy called Jon Beeby who is attempting to walk across the expansive country. 

I arrived in Oklahoma city after 32 Hours via Dubai and LAX and have been on the road since for 3 days in windy farmlands west of Oklahoma City. Living in a RV and hanging out with my partner in Photographic / Film crime Shaun Stander who I studied photography with in South Africa. 

So far the stereotypical setting has amazed me, with everything you ever imagined and seen on movies been real in the vast country. Hicks with drawls, cars that guzzle down gas (including our very own Ford V8 RV) and Walmarts every 40 Miles, not to mention the weirdest and friendliest folk I have ever laid eyes upon. Its been tough getting over the jet lag and learning how to live like a gypsy, I always liked to joke in the past about how I feel like a photographic gypsy at the moment, with no real roots anywhere, I guess this is a dream come true.

I will be putting up constant installments as our journey progresses slowly but surely. 

To read more about Jon's epic journey and the charity he is doing it for TAG please visit his site at www.steptoofar.com now! 

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Our home on the road, the gas guzzling Ford V8 RV. Its super cramped with four on board. Myself, Shaun, Jon and Helen.

On my first night while waiting for Shaun, we watched the sunrise in one of the many budget strip malls outside Oklahoma City. 

Most of our journey lines up with the historic ruote 66, made famous by Jack Kerouac and Easy Rider. We have now deviated slightly though and are heading down some very desolate parts of the countryside. I love the signs on the side of the road everywhere you go. 

Not gonna happen.  In Jon's words, there is nothing you could pay me to live here!

Everything is about big food here. The more the better and BBQ is a local specialty! 

We hit a town called Corn in Oklahoma city today, nothing but nothingness, wind and churches.  Oh did I mention wind. 

When doing a trip like this we come across a ton of roadkill. 

My good friend and partner on this trip Shaun Stander who I studied photography with back in the day! 

It never ends, one straight line of endless road.