Let us not forget...

I recently completed a project on photographing a subculture. And yes the so to say subculture I chose some might consider very incorporated into our daily lives that people see them as part of society and not as a sub part like the word subculture might imply. Where I live little shops exist that are usually run by older ladies who sell home baked goods, pickled little things and pancakes to go. They tend to be taken for granted but are vanishing as we speak because lager corporations such as supermarkets also tend to sell these "home made" goods today and because of the tricky little word "convenience" the average consumer tends to not go the extra mile (mile here refers to a distance of about 10 meters within the same centre) to buy real honest produce from a tuisnywerheid. This is sad. By choosing these ladies, or rather tannies, as my subjects I want to create awareness of the issues and problems these little shops are facing in today's mass consumer orientated society that slowly but surely takes away the chance these micro industries have on the market.

Here an image I took that is part of a 5 piece series about tuisnywerheid ladies in Pretoria.

The experience of talking to these ladies and their passion for what they do is absolutely wonderful. Some of them told me they specifically support older ladies who lost their husband in order for them to make a little extra money on the side. They talked about big supermarkets as their competition and how so many shops have vanished over the past years. But one thing I noticed in all the shops I visited... there is so much pride, pride of true home baked cakes and little tarts, of jams and pickles, of savory pies and traditional vetkoek and the personal relationships between the shop owners and the baking tannies. Just this I find makes it so important to not forget about them but to appreciate community driven little shops somewhere in the corner of a huge shopping centre who believe in real food, rather than mass produced... crap.

Target: Art

Its time to write something thoughtful again... something that possibly could contribute to my understanding of what is happening... but to what? To this world? To me? To everything? To words that I throw in here that sound bold and all-encompassing? But I guess what I forget is the "you"? You as the reader... are you the one I write this too? I would hope this is not the case as this is my creative study... but I do... it is unavoidable!

What does this have to do with photography? It's all about concepts! Concepts, concepts concepts! And yes they are arty concepts... the ones by the people who stand in an art gallery or exhibition and have all those thoughts and interpretations of the piece on the wall, which, frankly, could be portraying anything or made out of any material you can think of.. but it is relevant? Maybe yes as it presents a concept possibly targeting a social issue or thought we all share and can relate to. Or maybe no... because it is in fact just art. Art doesn't do anything except make the people who create it feel even more confused about themselves and seem to enlighten the audience about what is happening around us or to them or in them. And now what? Nothing! I don't think people actually remember the piece they saw but rather the feeling, the emotion which they discovered through the piece. So this would essentially mean that art is good as it makes us more aware of things... but is it not a form of indoctrination as well? Just targeting more vulnerable issues? Like advertising, art advertises issues, reminds us of them and pulls them into our reality. And according to some followers of positive thinking this would mean these issues would become more or increase in intensity because we are reminded of them in a  problematic negative light and are not urged to think positively of solutions. Of course, this can also be seen as naive, faulty thinking... but it would make sense if it were to be true why things haven't gotten better yet... ok this last sentence can be ignored... it is too far fetched... but maybe thus useful for a concept in art?!

To conclude, peeling a plum and actually experiencing the texture of the flesh underneath and seeing the skin lying at the side loosing importance... as this texture is just so human like, a human without skin... just mixed with more sogginess... and the colour... it reminds me of cut open purple cabbage mixed with red berries... This violence of judging the inside, I do notice a resemblance to art?! Do you?

Social Commentary

Shooting a 2 minute video about social commentary is my next project. I have never really filmed anything before... this will be a challenge.

I find firstly a definition is adequate (this one here is from wikipedia): 

Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace about a given problem and appealing to people's sense of justice. Social commentary can be practiced through all forms of communication, from printed form, to conversations to computerized communication.

...after browsing around I found some inspirations:

"Some street artist in Germany reckoned that the new H&M posters featuring a very tanned model in a bikini was in need of some subtle social commentary so he spiced it up a little and added a Photoshop toolbar after complaints that the images look at tad touched up."

The above image is a little bit to "in your face" for my liking, even that it made me smile. But this might be an indication of what path to walk or what direction to choose.

The next thought of mine is why not try and talk about clothing.... "you are what you wear"... or are you? Exploring this issue via video seems tricky, but having close up shots of clothing pieces and fancy dressed ladies throwing their hair back... wearing scarfs with glitter and stuff... possibly having a timeline... starting with old, broken/torn clothing and ending with high end fashion... and finalising the video with a simple pair of scissors and thread on a table... everything, no matter what the end product is (in this context) starts with the same basic elements.  

To take it further, we are all humans, naked apes, and how do we allow ourselves to judge people on what they use to cover themselves up with... one would think that the more it glows or shines... the more the human wants to distract from what's underneath... or does he/she uses it to attract others... a cry for help, a cry to feel important, a statement of individualism... a way to survive in today's society....?

UPDATE:

I decided to use the concept above in a photographic series rather than in video format. Possibly even with the use of alternative printing processes.

Having experienced a power outage in the last couple of days (fair enough, it was only for an hour or so), I realised how dependent we are on electricity and how wasteful we use it. I found that by addressing more "obvious" topics with video was a better solution as my skill level in filming is essentially none. Video requires more energy/ battery life than photography and considering that filming is a rather continuous process similar to the stuff running through our cables, I found this theme appropriate for the medium. 

Below is the footage of my first - socially critical - video. (Filmed on the Canon 7D and edited in iMovie).