I love the clever, quirky lines on pics on what it means to be an artist/freelancer/photographer, that make their way around the internet. I received an email today from a Royalty Free Image Library (no name as they don’t deserve the publicity) inviting me to use their iPhone App and make money from my pictures. Naturally, as a professional photographer, I investigated this.
Their terms told me that I can earn from 30-60% of the price they sell the images for, royalty free. So how much does that translate into in moneys worth? Effectively they’re offering me $0,216 at 30% up to $0,432 at 60% per picture that they sell, depending on their sliding scale ‘loyalty’ program. Royalty free. Clearly their business model is based on volume sales. The fact that they’re destroying the true value of photography seems to evade them.
As a commercial photographer I am commissioned to create images on a ‘Rights Managed‘ basis. This means that I control the use of the image, and sell the license for use thereof. The use of images is controlled by three factors being time, territory and media. Time, measured in years, territory being the number of countries and media being the number of different kinds of media the image is used in. What most photographers don’t know is that this is where the true financial value of photography lies.
If you don’t believe me ask Bill Gates.
Bill did not become one of the wealthiest men in the world by selling software. He made his money selling the license for use of the software. The value lies in the intellectual property behind the software, just as the true financial value of photography lies in the intellectual property behind the photograph.
South Africa has a sordid history on many levels, one of the less publicized being the blatant abuse of author’s (artists/designers/photographers/writers) international copyright by companies (corporations). One of the biggest media companies in South Africa abused photographers international copyright for decades with the attitude of, “What are you going to do about it?” Ironically they expanded into China.
The value of intellectual property is held in such high esteem by the international community that not only was it the key issue at the Berne Convention in 1886 but more recently it was enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations under Article 27 (2):
Article 27(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Both the Berne Convention and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights specify that the Author of the works has the right to protection NOT the owner of the copyright therein, if the owner of the copyright is not the Author of the works. The international community values the creations of our minds so highly yet companies (corporations) choose to rather exploit it. It sickens me to see authors struggling to pay their bills while the companies they freelance for declare record profits and increases in share values.
Perhaps if there were less sociopaths running companies the world wouldn’t be in the turmoil it is today. The relentless pursuit of profit = greed to the detriment of humanity. It’s time for business with conscience. For the sake of humanity.
Sometimes preparing for a photo shoot can be like giving birth. Not that I know what giving birth really feels like, being a man and all.
However, sometimes preparing for a photo shoot can be like giving birth, where it takes a really loooong time to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together. Sometimes it’s not that long, it just feels really long, because I can’t wait to get to the shoot day and start capturing the creative vision that’s been simmering in my brain for who knows how long.
The fashion shoot ‘The Industrialist’ was one of those shoots. One delay after another due to team availability until days became weeks and I became like a cat on a hot tin roof.
The thing is, I would be testing the Leica S2-P, one of the best medium format digital SLR cameras in the world (supplied by Tudortech in South Africa), for the first time, and I couldn’t wait. Hours felt like days and days like months.
FINALLY all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place and it was go time. I picked up the Leica, dashed home and opened the boxes like a kid at Christmas. It is a thing of classical beauty. The S2-P looks like a standard SLR but is a lot bigger. The design is simple elegance. In this age of greased lightning technological advancement I yearn for the days when I shot real (slide) film, when photographers really had to know what we were doing because we couldn’t just ‘fix it in Photoshop’.
In a heart stopping moment I couldn’t figure out how to change the electronically set aperture on the camera. I downloaded the manual from the internet so that I could RTFM but worked the camera out without it. The functionality of the Leica is simple and straight forward. I loved setting the shutter speed manually with the dial, clicking it through the different speeds.
On the morning of the shoot I arrived at Kelly Jean’s flat with a car full of equipment, leaving Lindsay Rae Nel, my digital assistant, locked in the car to keep an eye on the gear. Kelly was forging ahead with the model Monique Darton‘s hair and makeup. Kelly pointed out a safer parking bay, part of the complex, so the car was moved and Lindsay retrieved to join us.
Natalia Keet, the fashion stylist, arrived with her assistant Caitlin Killassy and the collection. Nice. Elegant and sophisticated whilst still contemporary. “I can work with this,” I thought to myself.
With Monique’s base coat on we piled (literally) into our cars, the excitement building. We took a ‘small’ detour through Khayelitsha to pick up my lighting assistant, Cinga Samson. Jackie Murray, the videographer, met us en route, perfectly positioned for a toilet and refreshment stop. The location we were heading for doesn’t have water or electricity. Not in pipes anyway.
Despite showing her location pics I suspect Natalia was apprehensive about the location. Until we got there and the oohing and aahing started.
The location, an abandoned incomplete construction site, is awesome for shoots. I’d been wanting to shoot there ever since I first saw it. My vision for this shoot was structured, simple elegance with a twist. The location was perfect with it’s mono-tone backgrounds and clean, geometric lines. With a flooded basement.
The simplicity of the Leica S2-P is striking. As Monique and I found our groove the camera moulded into me. I loved using the single point autofocus, tweaking it manually to the fine focus point I demand in my pictures. The more I worked with it the more I decided to push it. The lens was clear and sharp, what I expect from Leica. One of the cameras I used to shoot fashion on was the Pentax 67, a large, clunky film camera. It was a great SLR camera but the focal plane shutter was big and clunky and caused vibration in the body, making it prone to images with ‘camera shake’. The handling of the Leica reminded me of the Pentax 67 and naturally I had the same concern about the shutter. Shooting on the 70mm lens at 1/60 second proved no challenge for the camera. The images were sharp.
There has been immense progress with digital sensors, ISO and resolving noise recently. Shooting in the basement was challenging due to the low light. Balancing available light and battery powered flash (strobe) can be challenging, especially if your camera is prone to noise at high ISOs. I wanted to shoot Monique wading through the water, creating movement and energy. I asked her if she was up to putting on my wet water boots and wading through the murky water hoping she was game for it. She was. Holding my breath I set the camera to 640 ISO, knowing that if there was noise I could lose the shot. There wasn’t, to my relief. The shot was pin sharp and clear with good highlight and shadow detail.
The camera RAW (DNG) files were huge, much to my surprise. The camera is a 37,5 Megapixel camera but the DNG files are approximately 76 Megabytes each, requiring a lot more memory than I anticipated. Luckily we had enough CF cards with us. I was also concerned about the battery as we only had one with us. Thankfully it lasted the day with about a quarter charge remaining at the end.
There are fewer greater feelings than a shoot coming together for me. I love the energy created by a team working in sync with one another, especially when the model and I find our rhythm. Every shoot presents it’s unique challenges but these challenges diminish with a great team and great gear. My mind is already racing with the possibilities of the next one.
That feeling when you’re presented with a tough choice. Be present at the Cannes Short Film Festival for the screening of my fashion film ‘Immersion’ or be present at the birth of my identical twin sons. The thing was that we weren’t exactly sure when the boys would be born. We knew that they were likely to be born early being twins, we just weren’t sure how early. I chose not to risk it.
The boys were born on the same day as the film’s debut screening. My wife at the time, the underwater model in this film, was in labour during the time slot the film screened in. The irony has not escaped me.
The creative process is exhilarating, yet daunting. Thrilling yet terrifying. Creative people tend to put their hearts and souls into their work, courageously daring to bare their innermost selves to the world and all those who would look, who would see, who would understand and appreciate the essence of who we are, what life and all its complexities means to us.
Immersion examines the agony and ecstasy of the creative process. The need to perform under pressure with looming deadlines and yet still produce a work of magic, the wow factor that will embed our work into the minds of the people who matter the most to us.
It’s always a great sense of accomplishment when hard work pays off and is recognised, so I was delighted to be informed by the Bokeh Fashion Film Festival that TWO of my fashion films have been selected as part of their 2015 Official Selection! ‘Caress‘ is the second fashion film that I made, that I co-directed with Roice Nel (DoP) for Cirque Magazine. ‘Immersion‘ is my third fashion film, made in collaboration with Alma van den Berg of Spilt Milk Clothing, initially for the opening of her Spilt Milk SS14/15 Fashion Show at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Cape Town, subsequently expanded to the full fashion film. Both were challenging and rewarding experiences in their own ways!
Caress
Shoes in hand she climbs the stairs, exhilarated, her finger trailing along the polished wooden hand rail, the memory of the caress lingering in her mind.
That caress. That first touch. Longing for more…
Dreamily she enters the bedroom, the open doors, the warm evening breeze filtering through. Tossing her shoes aside she leans on the balcony, remembering the feeling of the first touch on her skin.
The invitation to the ball was beautifully gilded in silver. The event of the year, she needed to look her radiant best. The belle of the ball. A famous actress turned producer she was used to the attention and knew that the tabloids would be there, like skeletal vultures willing potential prey to fall, to die, for the feast. She chose to give them something to feed on.
The choice of who to approach to make her dress was simple. Only the best. Only authentic haute couture. Her favourite designers knew her well, always making time for her, despite their hectic schedule preparing for Milan Fashion Week. The creative process was her favourite part. The colours, textures, shapes, fabrics, adornments, all melting together into the perfect presentation, the perfect unattainable woman.
The feeling of that caress on her skin. The first touch. The excitement of the unfamiliar, wondering what it would lead to. So many disappointments. This time it would be different.
Her driver picked her up in time to be fashionably late. In time to make the perfect arrival, to be the centre of attention. Late enough to irritate the sticklers for time but on time enough to be socially acceptable. She knew it all so well.
As her car glided into the red carpet drop off zone the tabloid vultures rushed in, their flashes blinding her temporarily, again. She stepped from her car, her dress tumbling out after her. Her walk down the red carpet was flawless, her languid gait fast enough to make the photographers run after her but not too fast to miss the pictures.
The doors opened in front of her, the doorman unable to resist an almost imperceptible smile. She understood it so well. “You’re beautiful, completely out of my league,” his thoughts almost audible. A woman on the landing gave her the once over, her jealousy blatantly clear.
That caress. That first touch. Longing for more…
Walking through the crowded dance floor, people parting in natural submission, a young actor caught her arm. She spun around, defiantly looking into his eyes, and went with it. He was a good dancer. Confident, if not a little arrogant. She liked that.
The world disappeared around them, the perfect moment. The synchronised movement of their bodies, lightly touching, the energy between them perceptible. She held his confident gaze, pondering the brashness of youth. His hand, until now appropriately placed, slid down. In a flash she spun away, breaking contact, and left. Not tonight. Not like that. Not with him.
That caress. That first touch. The deep longing for more. If only they understood, it’s not about anything else other than the way it makes you feel.
And she felt beautiful.
Caress is a short fashion film co-directed by Deryck vS, starring Tarina Patel wearing Hendrik Vermeulen Couture.
Shoes in hand she climbs the stairs, exhilarated, her finger trailing along the polished wooden hand rail, the memory of the caress lingering in her mind.
That caress. That first touch. Longing for more…
Dreamily she enters the bedroom, the open doors, the warm evening breeze filtering through. Tossing her shoes aside she leans on the balcony, remembering the feeling of the first touch on her skin.
The invitation to the ball was beautifully gilded in silver. The event of the year, she needed to look her radiant best. The belle of the ball. A famous actress turned producer she was used to the attention and knew that the tabloids would be there, like skeletal vultures willing potential prey to fall, to die, for the feast. She chose to give them something to feed on.
The choice of who to approach to make her dress was simple. Only the best. Only authentic haute couture. Her favourite designers knew her well, always making time for her, despite their hectic schedule preparing for Milan Fashion Week. The creative process was her favourite part. The colours, textures, shapes, fabrics, adornments, all melting together into the perfect presentation, the perfect unattainable woman.
The feeling of that caress on her skin. The first touch. The excitement of the unfamiliar, wondering what it would lead to. So many disappointments. This time it would be different.
Her driver picked her up in time to be fashionably late. In time to make the perfect arrival, to be the centre of attention. Late enough to irritate the sticklers for time but on time enough to be socially acceptable. She knew it all so well.
As her car glided into the red carpet drop off zone the tabloid vultures rushed in, their flashes blinding her temporarily, again. She stepped from her car, her dress tumbling out after her. Her walk down the red carpet was flawless, her languid gait fast enough to make the photographers run after her but not too fast to miss the pictures.
The doors opened in front of her, the doorman unable to resist an almost imperceptible smile. She understood it so well. “You’re beautiful, completely out of my league,” his thoughts almost audible. A woman on the landing gave her the once over, her jealousy blatantly clear.
That caress. That first touch. Longing for more…
Walking through the crowded dance floor, people parting in natural submission, a young actor caught her arm. She spun around, defiantly looking into his eyes, and went with it. He was a good dancer. Confident, if not a little arrogant. She liked that.
The world disappeared around them, the perfect moment. The synchronised movement of their bodies, lightly touching, the energy between them perceptible. She held his confident gaze, pondering the brashness of youth. His hand, until now appropriately placed, slid down. In a flash she spun away, breaking contact, and left. Not tonight. Not like that. Not with him.
That caress. That first touch. The deep longing for more. If only they understood, it’s not about anything else other than the way it makes you feel.
And she felt beautiful.
Caress is a short fashion film co-directed by Deryck vS, starring Tarina Patel wearing Hendrik Vermeulen Couture.
Life is made up of moments. Some lost. Some missed. Some treasured.
During the course of every day we experience these moments, some more significant than others.
Sometimes we connect with a stranger, an unspoken exchange, a knowing that stirs our soul. Sometimes we act on this but most often we don’t. Most often our social conditioning reins us in, losing everything but the memory of the moment, treasured until it too fades.
Every day we’re bombarded with images and footage of sexy people telling us we’re not them. We want to be, aspire to be, but never will be. No matter how hard we try we’re never good looking enough, slim enough, fit enough. We’re not wearing the right labels, or the labels we’re wearing are sooo last season.
We’re dissatisfied with ourselves. We feel like we’re never good enough, never cool enough, never have enough.
Even our Marxist/Socialist Freedom Fighters who ‘fought’ for the ‘liberation’ of this country have become reborn capitalists, the ideas and principles they ‘fought’ for, ‘suffered’ for, have been discarded like a used, government issue condom that was stapled to a HIV/AIDS awareness leaflet. Now it’s all about labels for them. ‘Their people’ can wait.
Banksy‘s artwork of the soft drink bottle (the one that promises an amazing lifestyle all over the world but in truth is so incredibly bad for you) with his message forming it’s outline is well worth the read. It’s been said that the art of advertising is to encourage a consumer to buy a product or service that they don’t necessarily need in such a way that their life feels incomplete if they don’t. Banksy was on the button.
The thing is that there’s this insatiable monster called ‘progress’. When things have been ‘improved’ we need to know about it. Right? Someone has to tell us that the latest car uses less fuel, is more biodegradable, has a smaller carbon footprint. And they need to tell us in a way that will capture our attention so that we get the message. Right?
So if we kill advertising then how will we know? Whatever ‘new’ solution we come up with is just another form of advertising.
Perhaps the solution is to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help I Jah. Super models are sexy. So is a Ferrari although how many of us want to, realistically, honestly, drive a Ferrari every day? How many of us can afford to?
Western Capitalism is based on ‘ownership mentality’. We become slaves to debt to be able to say “What do you think of MY new car/house/clothes/etc?” when in truth it does not belong to us until paid for in full. The entire Western Capitalist financial system is based on this, on getting us into debt and keeping us there, making us slaves to that debt.
One of the fundamental differences between the rich and the poor is that poor people work for money whilst rich people make their money work for them. Rich people know that one of the secrets to wealth creation is not getting into debt. Debt costs far more than most investments can return.
So why were we not taught this in school? Or by our parents? Or by anyone else who cared enough to share this with us? Why do my childrens ‘savings’ accounts cost more in monthly bank charges than the ‘interest’ they receive?
Let’s follow Banksy’s example and tell the truth. Let’s educate our children about the truth of this world. Let’s teach them that money is not the root of all evil but the love of money is. Money is a tool to be used wisely. Let’s teach them the truth about debt traps and how much debt truly costs. Let’s change this twisted, greed ridden system from the inside out. Let’s be the change we want to see in the world.
We know that the glitz and glam is just erotic soft porn designed to turn us on, fill us with lust for something that we actually don’t really need, that in truth will not necessarily improve our human experience. Humanity is about people. It is not about selling ourselves and those around us for the next best thing. It’s about caring for and helping one another for the greater good. The greater good being the true happiness of humanity as a whole. I cannot help but wonder how we justify selling a house for R300 million when 30km away people go to bed in a leaking shack, hungry. How do we justify CEOs earning so much more than the leaders of countries whilst their staff on the floor struggle to put food on the table?
It was greed that plunged the world into the ‘financial crisis’ we find ourselves in. The greed of people who did not care about the consequence of their actions and profited ridiculously from it whilst the rest of us carry the cost. We are still paying for that greed.
It’s time for a new way of thinking. Thinking based on love and mutual respect. It’s time for truth, transparency and accountability. It’s time for big business to conduct it’s affairs ethically and to make the state of humanity more important than the pursuit of maximum profit.
We are no longer consumers, conned by slick lines and psychological marketing tricks. We’re now prosumers, proactive about the way we spend our hard earned money. Let’s demand the truth. In everything. About everything. For the sake of the future of our home, Mother Earth.
Every so often I’m commissioned to do a shoot that catches me by surprise. My latest body of work ‘Full Circle’ is one of those. ‘Full Circle’ is currently being exhibited online by the Creative Collaborative Collective. ‘Full Circle’ examines the end of the cycle of life.
We start out as babies, unable to care for ourselves, completely dependent on those around us for our survival. Our lives tend to end the same way should we make it to old age. The smallest tasks can become the biggest challenges for the aged. The simplest task of getting up and going to the toilet can become a massive challenge. Loneliness an even greater one.
During our youth time flies. In old age time becomes the enemy, looking for ways to make it pass, to fill it with anything other than the thought that we are waiting for God to take us. Time becomes the void in which our memories of what we have, or have not, done haunt us. When we die we take none of the possessions we worked so hard for with us.
Some believe the only thing we take with us is our memories. Some believe that hell is living with those memories for eternity. In many indigenous cultures around the world the aged are respected as people with wisdom, people to listen to, to seek counsel from. In western culture the aged tend to be discarded, locked away and made someone else’s ‘problem’ to care for.
We are all going to travel ‘Full Circle’ should we live long enough. Perhaps it’s time for us to review our thinking.
It’s Friday the 13th today which means that there are a lot of superstitious people holding their breath around the world!
I love free diving. The peace I feel underwater is comparable to no other place. The feeling of weightlessness, of floating and drifting, of gliding with a flick of the fins. I don’t dive for depth. I dive for the challenge of breath hold. An underwater tourist dolphin style.
Cape Town is famous (notorious?) for her great white sharks. We dive in false bay, home of the ‘submarine’, and yes, I do think about them and hope that they’re somewhere else chasing seals.
To overcome my fear of them I went shark cage diving in Gans Baai. Controversy about shark cage diving and sea sickness aside (10 foot swell out at sea) it was an awesome experience. They swim so close to the cage that you can reach out and touch them. Don’t.
I was fascinated by them, not afraid of them. Their languid gracefulness is beautiful. From the safety of a cage. I bought a disposable underwater camera for fun to shoot underwater pics of these big fish. It disappeared from the boat. Nice.
I stumbled across Edition Fifty Fathoms, “The only art magazine of underwater photography”, on Facebook today and saw an incredible photograph taken by free diver photographer Fred Buyle. The photograph is of a free diver reaching out to touch a shark. Not a great white but a very large tiger shark.
I’m fascinated. I’m even more fascinated by the documentary film about Fred on Vimeo titled ‘He swims with sharks’.
April the 14th 2013 marks the 20th anniversary of my first bang bang, the day I was first shot at. Literally. By the police.
I was a young aspiring freelance photojournalist, studying at the Cape Technikon on a part time basis at the time. Somebody told me there was trouble in town so I grabbed my camera bag and ran to find it. I had one roll of black and white film.
Anti-apartheid activist, leader of the South African Communist Party and Chief of Staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), Chris Hani had been murdered four days before and there was a demonstration march to the City of Cape Town. He was assassinated on 10 April 1993 outside his home in Dawn Park, a racially mixed suburb of Boksburg, during a turbulent time in South Africa. Nelson Mandela had been released from prison and was negotiating a peaceful transfer of power from the Afrikaner Nationalist government to the ANC. The nation was preparing for civil war.
Chris Hani was shot in the head and back as he stepped out of his car by Polish far-right anti-communist immigrant Janusz Waluś. Waluś fled the scene, but was arrested soon afterwards after Hani’s neighbour, a white Afrikaner woman, called the police. Clive Derby-Lewis, a senior South African Conservative Party M.P. and Shadow Minister for Economic Affairs at the time, who had lent Waluś his pistol, was also arrested for complicity in Hani’s murder.
The demonstrators chanted “No peace! War! War!” as they moved through the city.
The police and the military created a cordon around the entire city once the marchers arrived, tightening it, block by block, moving the demonstrators towards the Grand Parade in front of the city hall. Some of the protestors started rioting, setting fire to cars and looting shops. The public fled for their lives.
As a photojournalist it’s sometimes as though you have diplomatic immunity from rioters. I moved amongst them, capturing moments, shocked by what I was seeing. The rioters beat people who refused to join them, hurling abuse at those who ran away. A group of rioters came down a one way into oncoming traffic. A terrified man jumped out of his BMW and ran into the closest shop, the staff closing the security gate behind him just in time. The rioters jumped all over his car, smashing it to pieces, then threw rocks through the shop window. I moved on and bumped into a colleague, a freelance photojournalist for the Argus newspaper, pumped with adrenaline. We agreed to meet at the studio we shared in Jamieson street once it was over.
The police and the military continued to tighten the cordon until they moved everyone onto the Grand Parade and opened fire. I was on the parade, close to a wall of one of the stalls when I heard a strange noise behind me. I turned and saw chips of plaster flying off the wall. With a sickening sensation I realised they were shooting at me with live ammunition. People were screaming and running in every direction. I tucked my camera under my arm and ran, crashing into hysterical people, bouncing off them, desperately looking for cover in the chaos.
Once the shooting subsided I went back into the area to look around. I was out of film but needed to see for myself. I heard a commotion towards the station and ran towards it to see two big policemen beating a man lying on the ground with sjamboks. The man was screaming, shielding his face with his arms, bleeding profusely. They saw me and shouted, another policeman running towards me. I ran for my life. The image of that beating haunts me to this day. The ferociousness and brutality of it deeply disturbing.
Later that afternoon I met my colleague at our studio. He told me that of the six photojournalists covering the riots, three had been wounded, luckily none of them killed. Difficult to get accurate stats, it was officially released that seven people were killed with hundreds injured. I doubt the accuracy of this.
I sold eight of my pictures to a newspaper representative from Germany. As a student it left me feeling elated. My first international sale. I hope they made a difference.
The following year, on the 27th April 1994, South Africa held it’s first non-racial democratic elections, that the ANC, under the leadership of Madiba (Nelson Mandela) won. For the following twenty years I was told by ‘the government by the people, for the people’ that as a white male I’m not wanted in the work place, despite the Freedom Charter we fought for. Black Economic Empowerment, government policy, dictates that white males are the last on the list for employment. Instead of ending BEE after twenty years as promised, President Zuma announced that it would be implemented more aggressively, as in his opinion, there had not been sufficient reform. Whilst I understood the necessity for this, I felt betrayed by the liberation movement. We were promised a ‘rainbow nation’, in which no-one would be discriminated against based on gender, race or religion. Racism is racism, whether white on black or black on white.
I think back to the day at the parade, wondering what happened to that amazing document, the Freedom Charter, that we believed in so strongly, that so many people of all races died for during the struggle against apartheid. The foundation document that lead to one of the most advanced constitutions in the world, that the current government promised to the people, in order to be voted into power. That they walked away from so many years ago, turning their backs on their people in favour of self enrichment.
Perhaps they need to be reminded by the people, for the people.
The People Shall Govern!
Every man and woman shall have the right to vote for and to stand as a candidate for all bodies which make laws;
All people shall be entitled to take part in the administration of the country;
The rights of the people shall be the same, regardless of race, colour or sex;
All bodies of minority rule, advisory boards, councils and authorities shall be replaced by democratic organs of self-government.
All National Groups Shall Have Equal Rights!
There shall be equal status in the bodies of state, in the courts and in the schools for all national groups and races;
All people shall have equal right to use their own languages, and to develop their own folk culture and customs;
All national groups shall be protected by law against insults to their race and national pride;
The preaching and practice of national, race or colour discrimination and contempt shall be a punishable crime;
All apartheid laws and practices shall be set aside.
The People Shall Share In The Country’s Wealth!
The national wealth of our country, the heritage of all South Africans, shall be restored to the people;
The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole;
All other industry and trade shall be controlled to assist the well-being of the people;
All people shall have equal rights to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and professions.
The Land Shall Be Shared Among Those Who Work It!
Restrictions of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land redivided amongst those who work it, to banish famine and land hunger;
The state shall help the peasants with implements, seed, tractors and dams to save the soil and assist the tillers;
Freedom of movement shall be guaranteed to all who work on the land;
All shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose;
People shall not be robbed of their cattle, and forced labour and farm prisons shall be abolished.
All Shall Be Equal Before The Law!
No one shall be imprisoned, deported or restricted without a fair trial;
No one shall be condemned by the order of any Government official;
The courts shall be representative of all the people;
Imprisonment shall be only for serious crimes against the people, and shall aim at re-education, not vengeance;
The police force and army shall be open to all on an equal basis and shall be the helpers and protectors of the people;
All laws which discriminate on grounds of race, colour or belief shall be repealed.
All Shall Enjoy Equal Human Rights!
The law shall guarantee to all their right to speak, to organise, to meet together, to publish, to preach, to worship and to educate their children;
The privacy of the house from police raids shall be protected by law;
All shall be free to travel without restriction from countryside to town, from province to province, and from South Africa abroad;
Pass Laws, permits and all other laws restricting these freedoms shall be abolished.
There Shall Be Work And Security!
All who work shall be free to form trade unions, to elect their officers and to make wage agreements with their employers;
The state shall recognise the right and duty of all to work, and to draw full unemployment benefits;
Men and women of all races shall receive equal pay for equal work;
There shall be a forty-hour working week, a national minimum wage, paid annual leave, and sick leave for all workers, and maternity leave on full pay for all working mothers;
Miners, domestic workers, farm workers and civil servants shall have the same rights as all others who work;
Child labour, compound labour, the tot system and contract labour shall be abolished.
The Doors Of Learning And Of Culture Shall Be Opened!
The government shall discover, develop and encourage national talent for the enhancement of our cultural life;
All the cultural treasures of mankind shall be open to all, by free exchange of books, ideas and contact with other lands;
The aim of education shall be to teach the youth to love their people and their culture, to honour human brotherhood, liberty and peace;
Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children;
Higher education and technical training shall be opened to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit;
Adult illiteracy shall be ended by a mass state education plan;
Teachers shall have all the rights of other citizens;
The colour bar in cultural life, in sport and in education shall be abolished.
There Shall Be Houses, Security And Comfort!
All people shall have the right to live where they choose, to be decently housed, and to bring up their families in comfort and security;
Unused housing space to be made available to the people;
Rent and prices shall be lowered, food plentiful and no one shall go hungry;
A preventive health scheme shall be run by the state;
Free medical care and hospitalisation shall be provided for all, with special care for mothers and young children;
Slums shall be demolished, and new suburbs built where all have transport, roads, lighting, playing fields, creches and social centres;
The aged, the orphans, the disabled and the sick shall be cared for by the state;
Rest, leisure and recreation shall be the right of all;
Fenced locations and ghettoes shall be abolished, and laws which break up families shall be repealed.
There Shall Be Peace And Friendship!
South Africa shall be a fully independent state, which respects the rights and sovereignty of all nations;
South Africa shall strive to maintain world peace and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation-not war;
Peace and friendship amongst all our people shall be secured by upholding the equal rights, opportunities and status of all;
The people of the protectorates-Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland-shall be free to decide for themselves their own future;
The right of all the peoples of Africa to independence and self-government shall be recognized and shall be the basis of close co-operation.
Let all who love their people and their country now say, as we say here:
‘THESE FREEDOMS WE WILL FIGHT FOR, SIDE BY SIDE, THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES, UNTIL WE HAVE WON OUR LIBERTY.’
Adopted at the Congress of the People, Kliptown, South Africa, on 26 June 1955
I’ve been looking for an opportunity to direct a music video for a long time.
I’ve worked with a number of amazing artists over the years as a photographer and always wanted to take the plunge into directing. Opportunities popped up from time to time but always fell flat when we did the production costings. Funding a music video can be quite challenging.
I finally got the chance towards the end of last year. Mo’fire music executive producer, Goodwill Ndlovu, called me and asked me to produce and direct the music video for Kanyi’s second single on her debut album “Lintombi-zifikile”. we ran the numbers and could make it fit. Just. With a little help from our friends.
Goodwill set up a meeting with Kanyi and we discussed the concept for the video. Her vision was clear, to the point of giving me a hand sketched, very specific storyboard. I always like working with clear briefs and was impressed that such a young, upcoming rap artist, had gone to that amount of effort. I loved the narrative and we discussed our options.
Production is always challenging. Budget compounds the challenges. Anything is possible with time and money. Working with artists is exceptionally challenging as we don’t allow ourselves to be bound by what many people consider ‘normal’. Most of the featured cast, are musicians, artists. The casts performances were exceptional, each person bringing their seasoning to the mix.
The editing phase was exceptionally challenging. Budget. Egos. Exclusion. Urgh. Four editors later (not my doing!) I’ve arrived at the director’s cut. On brief. ‘Ungalibali’ is not a main stream rap song. The music video is not a main stream rap video. It’s an African story with universal relevance.
With special thanks to the featured cast being Kanyi; Unathi ‘Lady Slice’ Jacobs, as Kanyi’s friend; Bronwen de Klerk as the receptionist; Michael-Ashley Jones as the executive’s assistant; Shaun ‘Kritsi’ Jonas as record exec 1; Kholekile Buyana as record exec 2; Thando Mpemnyama as record exec 3, Nonhlanhla Tiger-Lily Mditshwa as the fashion stylist; Lelethu Godongwana as the fashion photographer; as well as the extras and crew being Goodwill Ndlovu the executive producer; Cinga Samson the assistant director, Nonhlanhla Mditshwa the wardrobe artist; Thandeka Candice Steenkamp the hair & make-up artist and Bronwen de Klerk the behind the scenes photographer. Many, many more people helped in one way or another. To you all, thank you. You rock. Respect.
I’m amped to do another. Differently.
Call me. Leave a message if I don’t answer. I’ll call you back.
