Street Steal: 2016

30 Sept 2016

GIRL POWER VIDEO

Just watched this video produced by i-D magazine about all things girl power: from breaking menstrual taboos to riding motorbikes, and about claiming spaces as a woman in society. Yee-haaa!

6 Sept 2016

WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING A WOMAN IN SOUTH AFRICA?

Pink and fluffy seems to always be the narrative behind women's day campaigns, but is that an accurate reflection of women, is that how we want to commemorate a historical day for all women?

Watch the video by "PAP CULTURE TALKS" here.

25 Aug 2016

So my friend at Illuminate Photography took a few photos of me and introduced me to "freelensing". Nope, not freelancing. Free-lensing. Freelensing is an inexpensive way of getting the unique effect of an expensive tilt-shift lens you’re your DSLR camera. Tilt-shift is when the focus plane is thrown out of whack with the added bonus of natural light leaks. You can see this in the first 2 photos below.

I tried to take a few photos using this technique and it's quite difficult. You hold the camera with one hand, take the lens off, and then while holding it closely to the camera body, maneuver the focus so that your subject is in focus. And then you just play around. Tilting it slightly to make wonderful painting-like photographs.

18 Aug 2016

POEM: WINTER'S GIANTS

through the mist,
through the trees,
proud buildings stand;
illuminated by soft midday
winter sunlight;
resilient against everything.

11 Aug 2016

TIM KELLER ON SATISFACTION

When looking for satisfaction in life, we often look to different things to bring meaning into our life. The altruistic way means that we find happiness in things and works.

FINALLY DEVELOPED SOME FILM PHOTOS AGAIN

I had the spool in my camera for a while... and finally picked up the photos today.

POEM: FATHER

I'm sitting here

as the African sun shines onto my desk,

and I think of my father.

My father was a man of faraway places,

of dusty roads,

blonde bleached hair.

WHAT'S THE POINT OF TWITTER?

I’m really not funny enough for Twitter. My personal Twitter page mainly consists of retweets of the smart and humorous people I follow and a variety of political news stories. Most of the tweets I retweet are funny one liners.

Personally, I’m just not funny enough to write about it. I also don’t follow a niche audience like Ju Juitsu, Magic The Gathering or the Bernie Sanders campaign. I just like to stay informed about current protests at South African universities and the eviction of the Eko and Idomeni refugee camps in Greece.

I once wrote Lena Dunham a cute message (@lenadunham) and she never wrote back. That was the beginning of my disillusionment with my personal Twitter page.

INTO AN INTROVERT’S MIND

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I think. Of course, as you might expect, I am someone who thinks a lot. Sometimes I am able to switch it off and put things or people into cupboards. My therapist tells me to stop thinking so much. I mean, I wish I could. I admire people who go through life and just do things. And once they’ve done them, they don’t think about them. How free your mind must be to think about useful things!

COOL BEATS

I've been listening to this track by Kiiara almost non-stop this week.

NON-VIOLENT COMMUNICATION BY MARSHALL ROSENBERG

Non-violent communication, also referred to as compassionate communication, which I think is a more fitting name, was developed by psychologist Marshall B. Rosenberg as a process that helps people talk and listen to each other in a more compassionate, smarter way.

SO I TAKE OFF MY FACE

POEM: VELVET SKY

Mountains collide with a velvet sky.
Stars dot the inky night
Like a tablecloth, god spread the heavens before us.

We sit, huddled,
Under a heavy duvet, on the porch,
Before Your creation.

Fluttering sunbirds have disappeared
And the night’s animals
Slinking around us, unawares.

You hold my hand, tightly,
Beneath my skin, your warmth,
Beating, vibrating heart, veins, pulse.

We are alive, in Your presence,
Lord our Father, our Creator.
Our eyes, upon You, upon your works.

11 Mar 2016

THINGS WE THINK AND DON'T SAY

I've recently started dating someone whose personality is quite different to mine. It's made my ice blocks appear more like ice blocks because they have now been placed next to an oven's hot plate. A bad analogy, I know, but when you meet someone who is different it exasperates that difference. Luckily, there are also many things we have in common. But when I read this Reddit article, it made me smile, because suddenly I felt so normal again.

THE JUNGLE REFUGEE CAMP IN CALAIS

Liz Clegg is "mom" to many unaccompanied minors in the Calais refugee camp. She wrote a letter to Jamil, a 12 year old Afghan refugee, who regularly tries to get to the UK through the English Channel. I just fell in love with his smile. We are all human. We all just want a place to call home.