I love people-watching. And capturing interesting faces with my camera. Who are they? What are their stories?
Fruit and veg seller in Gatesville, Cape Town.
Faces
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Street art
Do you look out for street art when you’re travelling? Mostly I find it’s a bit obscure, or grungy; graffitti-oriented or linked to some trendy but subversive rave parties… Often street art makes me feel pretty uncool – it can be hard to understand or interpret. But then sometimes it’s simply beautiful… Like this mural on a pillar in a street in Singapore.
An Asian Mona Lisa?
- Singapore, 2004.
Call to prayer
I love hearing the call to prayer. It makes me feel like I’m in Marrakech, or Istanbul, or Cairo… somewhere bustling and dusty and dry and fragrant and chaotic.
This is the first image in my latest project: photographing enclaves of other countries, cultures, traditions, food or people in my home town of Cape Town. Because sometimes the richness of your own city can transport you somewhere else.
Is this the middle East? Nope, it's Masjidul Quds in Gatesville, in Cape Town. Cool, huh?
* If anyone reading this can recommend an enclave for my project, please do let me know in the comments. Ideally I’d love to meet you and have you introduce me to your location, rather than just show up by myself and ask if I can take pictures…
Colours that pop
Against the backdrop of a misty morning, the bright orange that’s characteristic of Rajasthan almost glows. This orange is everywhere in this part of India – women’s saris, men’s turbans.
I took this picture with my point-and-shoot camera from inside our tour group’s minivan, somewhere between Karauli and Jaipur. I had the sense that these people have waited together for their bus every morning for years and years.
Waiting for the bus, Rajasthan style. (India, 2012)
Another ‘pinch me’ moment
One of my stops on a solo round-the-world trip in 2004 was Sydney. I’ll never forget my first glimpse of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from my plane window. They were so tiny, but recognisable, from up there in the sky. I will also never forget the white-knuckle descent to the airport. We dropped at an alarming rate – I’m sure I could hear that scary wind-and-engine roar of a plane plummeting to the ground. After a safe landing, my fellow passengers were ashen and quiet with shock as we all stood in the passport control queue!
Continuing the seagull theme from my last post, I couldn’t resist sharing this image of these two admiring the view of an iconic building. Definitely another ‘pinch me’ moment – “I’m in Sydney!!”
Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!
Worth getting up early for
I’m not a morning person. Not by a long way. So when my photography class was told we had to meet at Kalk Bay Harbour at 7am last Saturday, I was dreading it. Add temperatures of 8 degrees and intermittent rain, and you’d think it would have been pretty awful.
But actually it was an amazing three hours. Moody skies make for much better images than clear ones. And I was so absorbed in capturing just the right images, I didn’t realise I’d lost feeling in my toes.
I’ve added ‘catch the sunrise’ on the To Do List for my next trip. Sometimes it IS worth getting up early!
Rainy, cold but beautiful sunrise - Kalk Bay (May 2012)
What makes a great photo
I’ve always taken thousands of photos when I travel, but I’m embarrassed to admit that despite owning a DSLR, I’ve always used a little point-and-shoot. Finally I am taking a course in DSLR photography… with the hope of taking the kinds of pictures described below someday:
This quote was at the entrance to the exhibition of Pulitzer prize-winning photographs at the Newseum, Washington DC. Do not visit it without tissues - it's incredibly moving.