friends for 40 years

Lunch with these two was a hoot. Old radio adverts were sung and jokes that flew over my head were cracked...but to see them giggle like they were 12 again was...priceless.

{meet} daniel in my driveway

Daniel is the fix-it man in my complex. He told me that he once heard of a guy who has dreadlocks and someone took his photo and made it into a postcard to sell overseas. He says he wants to have a postcard with his photo on it so that he will be seen in other places.

{witness} my family away from family.

Look at their sweet little heads peeking into my picture.

{meet} ruby ruby ruby

Ruby sells the most delish cupcakes at the biscuit mill every Saturday.

{see} sleepy

I think this girl's name is Candice...she fell asleep before we got the chance to chat at a party.

{see} jacki in her panama hat

This is my friend Jacki. She loves salsa dancing, speaking Spanish, and going to Ecuador. (This sounds like a personal ad.)

{witness} the giggling gerties

They must've witnessed one a helluva joke.

{meet} darren who is quitting smoking

Just look at Jacki's face. She doesn't believe a word he's saying in his "I'm never having another cigarette, ever again" speech!

{meet} lots of colourful people at my friend's suprise birthday party

I love meeting people who are friends with my friends...it tells you so much more about a person.

{see} red faces

These are my friends Tessa and Jess at a house party.

{see} the people in the background

I love looking at the people who accidentally take part in the background of a photo.

{see} the man behind my sugar bowl

The people I see in coffee shops always keep me amused. This man caught my eye, mainly because he was having coffee, a cigarette and reading his paper in a typically student cafe.

{witness} a page from a diary

This is a page from a friend's diary (not the dear diary type.) That's one way to witness someone.

{see} people on the back of a bakkie on de waal drive

 It was an incredible event. Although I missed the demolition of the famous Athlone cooling towers, it was certainly festive to be stuck in traffic on De Waal drive with everyone climbing on top of their cars and putting their children on their shoulders to see. I saw these people taking a picture of themselves with the cloud of demolition in their background. Lately I have been fascinated by what defines a portrait? Do the subjects have to be aware that they are being photographed? (Just one of the many questions that has been playing on my mind.)

{witness} candice jane

Nicola Rose, Candice Jane and I all grew up on the same farm and we formed a farm girls group originally called "NCN farm girls." I have no idea what we did in the meetings besides eat sugar cane, but it certainly was fun to  have our own secret club! As I'm sure you've noticed...I like second names...they are so under appreciated! Don't you think? Candy asked me to take this pic for her for an interview for Top Billing, doesn't she look adorable?

{meet} me

inspired by rosie hardy's many self portraits

{witness} ceire has made it

Ceire has been witnessed. We had our first fight (a must in all relationships) and she has been promoted to the 'witness' category. Here are my sketches of the photos I took of her.

{sea} i'm sitting down here, but hey you can't see me

{witness} drinks on the beach at the most southern tip of africa with friends...phew, what a mouthful

The beach, the beers, the boats, the braais. A wonderful weekend to witness.

{meet} faceswithoutflashes

Electra Nathania and her boyfriend Hanno at a party in a mansion somewhere on a hill overlooking the city.

{meet} chantel, my neighbour for the night

Last night while taking photos of the city lights off my balcony, I met a girl, Chantel who was having a glass of whisky and a cigarette on the balcony next to mine. We started chatting about photography after noting that we have the same camera...she has a wealth of information. We got on like a house on fire and hung off our balconies chatting til after midnight. From tonsils to travelling to tripods. Chantel recently got back from a trip to Cambodia and has been living in the flat next to mine for a month. Unfortunately I was on holiday for that month and to my dismay, she is moving out today. We exchanged numbers and she has kindly offered to share everything she knows about photography and exhibiting with me. So the moral of the story is...although your mom told you not to make friends with strangers...make friends with neighbours.

{meet} ceire like sarah

I have always known Ceire, but i only really got to know her recently. That's why she is in the meet category. She is on her way to the witness category. We have become inseparable. We love walking around in town and trying out different coffee shops. She is studying Theatre and Performance at UCT...watch this space. She is always making me laugh and we are completely open with each other.  I am about to start a photographic adventure: "one girl, one chair, one city" and she has agreed to be the "one girl." I will post some of the photos here as well as on another sight...still to be created. Her favourite movie at the moment is An Education and we like to speak to each other with a French accent. For people who have trouble pronouncing her name she directs "Ceire...like Sarah." I chose to post both images because I love the contrast.

{see} a girl and graffiti

A canon 450d and Cait dressed by Ashleigh (below) makes for a fun day of photography in Woodstock, Cape Town.

{witness} my fictitious friend

Ashleigh. Fashion. Pink. These are synonyms. She studies fashion design at Fedisa and she has a cat called Plum. On Sunday we had a ball taking photos of our friend Cait in clothes designed by Ash. We love painting our nails wild colours and watching One Tree Hill. She is P. Sawyer and I am B. Davis. We mourned for weeks when our hopes of visiting Tree Hill were crushed when Cait informed us that it isn't a real town.

{see} beautiful blurs

A trip to the old Transkei provided plenty of opportunities to take snapshots out the car window. I love how the people and their colourful clothing are blurred, while the landscape is in focus.

{witness} nicola rose's sisters: katy louise and annabel elizabeth

Katy Louise and Annabel Elizabeth are like little sisters to me. We live next door to each other on their farm. We love to bake and paint together. Witnessing them grow into beautiful young ladies has been a pleasure. Katy is soft and graceful and knows everything there is to know about frogs and other random topics of interest, while Annabel (who decidely called herself Abby from the moment she could speak) is spunky and candid...and always keeps me in check. They are an absolute delight and they ooze style.

{witness} my dear friend nicola rose

This is my dear friend Nicola Rose. I have known her since I can remember. She once covered me in Betadine and baby powder when I was too small to protest. We always loved to dress up, and apparently, we haven't grown out of that. She has a bulldog called Clancy who barks too much. She tells me things with utter authority (generally nonsense) and I believe her. She once told me that if you sit on a swing, you are bound to get verrucas, only because she wanted to swing. From then on I have always been sceptical of swings. I love my dear friend Nicola Rose.

{see} a lonely black man

I spotted this blind man playing his guitar on the corner of Short Market Street and St. George's Mall in Cape Town City. I was shocked that no one stopped to give him money, he was not begging, but providing a great city life vibe. He sang "I am a lonely black man, I need somebody to love me!" With a coffee from Deluxe Coffee Works (possibly the best coffee in the city), I sat on a step of a building and drew this fascinating man.

{meet} aiden the american in africa

I have seen Aiden a few times in a classics lecture, but I officially met him today over esspresos and cigarettes. He has transfered to study in South Africa, but he misses his partner (the term boyfriend is too frivolous) back in his appartment in New York. (Check out their blog, Transatlantic Romantics, about their time apart.) He is studying to be an archeologist, and everyday he walks twenty minutes to the catch the bus to varsity. Aiden made money to pay the rent for his New York Appartment (yes this is a proper noun) by working as a publicist for the Sundance Film Festival. He is approximately 0,7% Black Foot Native American. He hates ghosts and loves Desperate Housewives.