S'Phara Phara - 20th August - Resolution Gallery, Johannesburg. Solo Exhibition.

So on my return from the USA I will be doing the final preparations for my solo show on the Real Actions Pantsula Dance Crew in Johannesburg. Below is a press release and the first invite for the show. The show will open at 12pm on the 20th August at the Resolution Gallery in Jan Smuts ave, Johannesburg. It will have the culmination of the work I shot during my stint at Colors (Fabrica) in Italy where the documentary began when I was commissioned to shoot for the Dance issue and further delving into this amazing contemporary  South African culture.

The show will be opened by iconic South African photographer Alf Khumalo and include two video installations as well as an array of framed prints. 

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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.


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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.

Afropolitans - V&A London (24th June 2011)

I will be showing some of my up and coming exhibition S'Phara Phara which will open at the Resolution Gallery on the 20th August, when I get back from the USA.

Showing will be a preview of the printed show plus some the video which was featured in Colors magazine last year when I was on residency at Fabrica in Italy. My new S'Phara video which will be installed at the exhibition will also be shown at the event.

Check out http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/f/afropolitans-24-june-2011/ for more info on the event and let me know how it goes if you do go!



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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. 

The Arch Magazine Fashion (June 2011)

Finally I can release some new Fashion Editorial work. This was shot for the Arch magazine, Melrose Arch's publication. It was styled by Jenny Andrews, Make up and hair by Liz van der Merwe and the model is the beautiful Kirsty from Star Models Johannesburg. 

You can check out the magazine online at www.thearch.co.za

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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.

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A Portrait of Lara.

Here is a shot from a recent shoot of mine with young actress Lara Lipshitz shot backstage at the Wits theater in Johannesburg.

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Dazed Digital: Lagos Party: Africa's new Music Stars Video.

Last year I shot at the MTV Mama awards with Dazed and Confused's Rod Stanley. Finally the video part of our project is up and live on the Dazed Digital website.

Check it out. Below is the text from Dazed Digital, written by Rod Stanley.

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Cabo Snoop in the area.

Last year while on shoot with Dazed & Confused in Lagos, shooting the MTV Mama awards I got to meet some pretty spectacular performers from around the African continent. One of them was a Kuduro dancer / musician called Cabo Snoop. He was one of the highlights on our journey and when I heard he was going to be in Johannesburg on tour, I jumped on the idea of doing a street shoot with Cabo, his manager Ho-Chi Fu and a crew of dancers from Angola.

It was a sentimental time too, as the last time I had photographed Cabo Snoop and he was with Ho-Chi Fu's brother who dies in a tragic car accident a month ago which involved the whole group and 3 members died.

On the shoot we hit the streets near Main Street Life and had some fun. The guys are humble, well dressed and ever willing to perform for the camera. Big ups to Cabo Snoop.

Cabo Snoop.

Ho-Chi Fu, the owner of Powehouse records. He runs the label like a military operation. He is the general and Cabo Snoop is the Captain.

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Beauty.

I have been doing a massive recci for a landfill location for the new Frown music video. Shot this while on a site in the South of Johannesburg called 'Waste Giant', problem is, I need a giant Landfill site but this didn't really cut it. Hope I can make it work though. 

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