NOVE

MBER

November was the month the Magnum shop opened in Rosebank. For two months only, that is, which means we had to eat, in the space of two months, what we would have eaten had the shop been there for the next twenty years.

sdfdsfdfssdf

The Commute And It’s ArtIf anyone with a slight mind for photography spends two hours a day on a train, like I do, there’s bound to be a few moments during that time that will be converted into images. Gautrain was increasingly becoming an art canvas for me. The powers that make the train run look dimly upon any ‘formal’ photography - when last did anyone see a photo-book, exhibition or other photographic work with Gautrain as a theme? Yet there’s no limit to pointing a smartphone, snapping an image and sausage-feed-ing it through one, two or a dozen ingenious photo mashing software mills and churning out a little piece of art.

Don’t expect to see an exhibition of these on a Gautrian station concourse anytime soon - that’s not a Gautrian PR priority right now - but I’m still hav-ing fun building this little Gautrain collection from month to month.

The Art Of EmmarentiaLast year there was a small but intrigueing land art exhibition at Emmarentia, our favourite place in Joburg for a brisk 5km walk and generous helping of fresh air. I like land art - it’s simple to make, you just have to be a little bit inventive with bits and pieces of the local landscape. This year’s land art exhibition - which is in reality more like an open day for an open-air art studio - was quite impressive. Which means there was good reason for impulsive photography.

Wandering around the treescape felt like a mini-easter egg hunt or Columbus discovering new little art worlds. Hope it happens next year again...

A short while ago Rosebank Mall was still a construction site mess, a place to be

avoided. Sure, it needed a facelift but who’d have thought it would end up being

a two-year operation. Shops were forced to close down, and when you did buy

something it came with a complementary layer of dust. Now, thank heavens,

my mall rat urges are once again satisfied. Reflections in shiny windows, steel

structures that show off opulance like a Roman theatre, waiting for the masses

to consume entertainment. It’s all image-taking-ready again. All’s well again.

The Rasta Shop has a new lick of paint. It’s been a Brixton landmark for years now, and

perhaps it could do with, like Rosebank Mall, with a small facelift. While it’s a pity the nice lion and the wild

eyed child artwork that adorned it’s walls are gone it’s nice to have the Jamaican ambiance replenished.

In the olden days there was shooting from the hip, nowadays it’s shot from the driver’s seat while waiting at

the traffic light.

Far.We took to the road again this month. It wasn’t a long trip - two days away from home - through small-town Freestate, then Golden Gate and home via a lunch stop-over in over-gentrified Clarens.

There was a lot to see, a lot to photograph.

The thing is, I’m never quite sure which camera I’ll have on hand when some worthy of a click presents itself. It may be my new iPhone 6 Plus, or the newish Olympus M10, or the old stalwart Canon 5D. Yet it all works out, mostly. The iPhone pics would come out all artsy and bright, the Olympus I liked for the classy black and whites, and the Canon, well, he (she? no, don’t think so) did all the heavy lifting.

And a lovely trip was had by all.

Golden Gate Hotel verandah.

What 2014 Johannesburg Photomarathon Exhibition

Where Th e Sheds@1Fox, Johannesburg

A tick off the bucket list.