True Love Babe - Sowet Colour Shoot

Its been a busy month of new work. Most of which I cannot put up on the web yet as it has not been published or released yet. But in the next few months lots of new things will be entering the blog. From Exhibition work (MTCS Project Murray Turpin Chris Saunders) and my exhibition with Anthea Moys. As well as that I am working on an exhibition with Black coffee and am shooting a great new exciting campaign (TBC soon).

All that said, in this blog I have attached my Soweto Colours editorial from December last year which has just been published.

Good times ahead!
Chris Saunders 2008

The Biggest Update ever! 2008

This update has to be one of the biggest I have ever done. A lot the work I have been busy with over the end of 2007 was published at the end of the year and beginning of 2008. This update has SL Magazine, Design Indaba magazine and more in it. I am looking forward to a spontaneously fun and successful 2008. Please enjoy the images below. C 2008

SL Magazine Cover and Team Uncool fashion editorial


Team Uncool, the collective that I am part of came up with a whack-ass concept for SL magazine, we were nervous they would throw us out after 5 minutes of pitching it to them but instead they gave us full creative control and we produced the editorial below. I also shot the cover of the magazine with a model from Star Models called Lauren T.




Design Indaba Magazine - 4th Quarter 07



Design Indaba magazine recently featured me in their 20 somethings article which featured 26 artists and designers from South Africa all under 30 years old. They had great things to say and it was awesome to published in such a great magazine. It is available at all Exclusive books and you can check out a preview of the article on the design indaba website. I have attached some scans from the mag and a snippet from the mag below:

Above: A scan from the Design indaba magazine 20 something article.

"Photographer Chris Saunders seems to effortlessly cross over from telling portraits to distinctive fashion, spirited travel photography and seamless commercial shoots, maintaining a spontaneous breath of fresh air throughout. Affiliated to the innovative Glamour Mechanics service, Saunders also collaborates with the Team Uncool art Collective." Design Indaba magazine 4 07. (The written words about me in the magazine)

Above: This image of mine taken in 2004 of Tim Williamson was used on the first page of the Design Indaba Magazine.

Shots magazine (UK) Cover



Shots magazine a UK based advertising magazine recently used one of my shots on the cover. The shot was of Jeana Theron of Velocity films. The shot was taken in the middle of Berea in Johannesburg and Black Coffee's Jacques & Danitsa styled the shoot. All in all the shot is one of my favorites of 2007. here it is below.

Final Post for 2007

I've just completed a two day mission through the city of Johannesburg and through Gauteng province for a Thnkyvrymch (A company I work with occasionally) pitch for the re-branding of the province.

Below is one of the pics taken on a platform in Park Station in Braamfontein Johannesburg.

I hope whoever gets to see this before the new year has a great one.

C

True Love Babe Mzansi Flavaro Shoot

Below is my first full Fashion Editorial done with True Love Babe. It is styled by one of my favorite young stylists in JHB, Khaya Sibiya. This guys gonna be a rockstar one day. Hope you like it.

C

Black Coffee win the South African Fashion awards

Yesterday Black Coffee was shocked to win the True Love South African fashion awards at Park Station. This is the highest acclaim in the Fashion Industry. I have posted some backstage photography that I did at the rehearsal the day before the awards. C

Alexandra Township

On Saturday the 24th of November I went to take some images in Alexandra Township. I was taken to specific places of historical and current value. I was shooting for the title sequence of a new documentary pilot which has been shot in Alex called Alex Tonship. It was an enlightening experience and opened my eyes to the fact that Alex is so close to other areas in a total different reality. It is also a over populated area in need of desperate development.

A Soccer game outside the mens hostels in Alex.

Kids playing cricket

Revlon towels hanging in block of flats in Alex.

A house and bussines in Alex, there are no walls around properties in the townships center.

Another shot of the inside of someones property in Alex.

Chickens and dogs are a huge part of the community in Alex and in general in South African township society, you find them everywhere.

A portrait of an old man who was born and bred in Alexandra Township.

3 regular sites in Alex, a hearse, a women selling mealies and a general dealer.

The back stoep of an original house in the Alex community. The people in Alex say that the new RDP houses are very poorly constructed and the old Apartheid ones are much stronger.

The original movie cinema in Alex that played cry of a beloved country and was bombed shortly after. The original owner Mr. Mohammed stills owns the cinema and rebuilt it with his family.

The orginal projectionist who still runs the cinema, he has worked all around the world and is one of the best at what he does.

Night of 1000 Drawings Images (2007)

I thought I'd put the images that I hung and shot for the Night Of 1000 Drawings exhibition this year. The first shot is of a man called Connie that lives in downtown Johannesburg with about 50 other people in an abandoned mechanics shop, he is sitting on his make shift bed. The second is of a anonymous man that I met who Paballo helped when he fell in a fire and burnt himself really badly, he is sitting on the pavement near where he sleeps. The third is of man named John who lives in the inner city, he is an elderly man that Dave knows very well and has built up a relationship with for many years.

The exhibition was a great success and I enjoyed the event immensely.

Chris

Shots Magazine (UK)

I recently shot 2 shoots for the UK based Shots magazine. It is a magazine mainly targeted at the commercials industry. I did one shoot with a director from Velocity films called Jeana Theron, she was also a Cover Option for the magazine. The Other shoot was with Paul Warner, the Creative Director from Metropolitan Republic. Both Shoots where super fun and it was great getting to shoot in the middle of Hillbrow for Jeana's shoot and to orchestrate grannies for Pauls.

I have taken Jeana's shots off the page for now, they will be put back on shortly after publication.

Check out Shots at http://www.shots.net

C

The Sovereign Academy

The Sovereign Academy are known for their awesome parties, the last one been the amazing Halloween party at the Gem Theater in Troyeville. They are playing at Woodstock 9 and needed some photos to accompany their profiles for the event. Below are Three of the guys in the group.

Absolute Pornography

Well this is definitely not the normal way people would interpret this idea. GQ asked a whole bunch of photographers to submit photographs for a Absolute Vodka calender. My photo was an idea inspired by Arthur Malan, the fashion editor. It is Pornography concealed through an absolute vodka bottle.


I have put some of the individual shots on the blog. The shot that I submitted to GQ is only the Collage shot though, as I thought the upclose and personal ones are a little too in your face.


Love or hate, here they are.

C

Night of 1000 drawings

Above: Last years Paballo (Night of 1000 drawings) book. Which had numerous of my images in it.

above: the second of a line of people that represent the different aspects of paballo.

David Chong (soup driver volunteer guy),
zodwa( medical student, helps with distrubuting basic medical care and medicine every wednesday)
ndai |(director of paballo)
paul a homeless person from zimbabwe that used to stay on plein st.. but now behind the taxi rank by the nelson mandela bridge.

Night of 1000 drawings is an exhibition for charity organisation paballo, which happens once a year. This is the second year of the exhibition and we are hoping for it to be a great success. They are struggling for funding and they need as many people as possible to get together and help find it.

David Chong runs up the project and if you can help in anyway, including using your skills. Please email him on 1000drawings@gmail.com. Also visit their blog at http://1000drawings.blogspot.com/.

I will be doing a new documentary shoot with them tonight and it will be up on the blog soon.

Thanks
Chris S 2007