THE ART OF LIGHT
In an interview with The Nonsense Society Blog, Ibarra advices budding photographers (that’s me)
“To me, photography is like painting…but with mood, instead of paint. I always implore people to stop placing so much importance on equipment. A good photograph is born in your mind. The camera only serves to externalize that vision. It would serve most photographers well to study some techniques for creative thinking. Your creativity is what separates you from the rest of the pack.”
http://www.nonsensesociety.com/2010/09/jaime-ibarra/
I like that
It’s strange how the circle of life works and how change encounters in the blue nowhere of cyberspace turns into opportunities and challenges. Through my work in disadvantaged educational projects, my interest in photography, blogging and urban renewal I stumble on all kinds of people and causes that illustrates how big the plight of the children in this country are and that it’s not only focused on rural communities.
In the week one of these cyberspace encounters turned into a meeting with Nathalie Boucry who aptly named her studio “The Art of Light” http://www.theartoflight.co.za/
What attracted me to her work was a blog post about Ikageng Itelereng and the photographs she's taken of the kids which really captures the essence of their life circumstances. I have offered to donate some books to the community library of these orphan children.
According to their website “Ikageng Itireleng, which means ‘help them help themselves’, works with more than a thousand orphans living in child-headed households in Soweto. These children have experienced first-hand the true devastation of losing their parents and guardians to AIDS. The programme helps them overcome the tragedy they’ve experiences while protecting the remaining family unit. At Ikageng, siblings continue to live together in their homes.
AIDS has forced these children to grow up too quickly, and the Ikageng team continues to work hard to help them grow to adulthood, which is frequently not possible for children as vulnerable as these living in often dire circumstances.
Ikageng provides for all the basic needs of the children, relieving the pressure on older children who, having lost their parents to AIDS, are forced to take on adult roles.”
The programme is partially funded by the “Keep a Child Alive” a drive co-founded by Alicia Keys. http://keepachildalive.org/our-work/ikageng-itireleng/
I heard a comment from one of the hard-core activists that foreign artists like Bono, Annie Lennox, Sir Bob Geldof and Alicia Keyes do more harm than good being involved in African affairs. “Would you rather see them do drugs like Pete Doherty and his buddies than trying to do something that we as South Africans are sadly failing to do?” was my reply. I found the comment truly bizarre. Any aid project is fraught with potential failure and difficulty but it’s better than letting every go to hell in a hand-cart in my opinion.
Some time ago I posted about the Umuzi Photo Club whose mission statement is;
"To empower learners from developing communities in South Africa with the skill of photography while promoting artistic self-expression and critical thinking as means for social awareness."
This photograph titled “Sky’s the Limit” I have imported form Umuzi’s blog. It’s the work of Joao Nzina, a Grade 11 learner from Hillbrow. The day I take a photograph like this I’ll be thrilled.
The meeting with Nathalie, the work of the Ikageng team, Umuzi and my involvement with the Albert Street School makes me realize again and again that we are only scratching the surface and that is far too many children being left behind in Jozi.
Please do not use the photographs - They are not mine, ask permission first
“To me, photography is like painting…but with mood, instead of paint. I always implore people to stop placing so much importance on equipment. A good photograph is born in your mind. The camera only serves to externalize that vision. It would serve most photographers well to study some techniques for creative thinking. Your creativity is what separates you from the rest of the pack.”
http://www.nonsensesociety.com/2010/09/jaime-ibarra/
I like that
It’s strange how the circle of life works and how change encounters in the blue nowhere of cyberspace turns into opportunities and challenges. Through my work in disadvantaged educational projects, my interest in photography, blogging and urban renewal I stumble on all kinds of people and causes that illustrates how big the plight of the children in this country are and that it’s not only focused on rural communities.
In the week one of these cyberspace encounters turned into a meeting with Nathalie Boucry who aptly named her studio “The Art of Light” http://www.theartoflight.co.za/
What attracted me to her work was a blog post about Ikageng Itelereng and the photographs she's taken of the kids which really captures the essence of their life circumstances. I have offered to donate some books to the community library of these orphan children.
According to their website “Ikageng Itireleng, which means ‘help them help themselves’, works with more than a thousand orphans living in child-headed households in Soweto. These children have experienced first-hand the true devastation of losing their parents and guardians to AIDS. The programme helps them overcome the tragedy they’ve experiences while protecting the remaining family unit. At Ikageng, siblings continue to live together in their homes.
AIDS has forced these children to grow up too quickly, and the Ikageng team continues to work hard to help them grow to adulthood, which is frequently not possible for children as vulnerable as these living in often dire circumstances.
Ikageng provides for all the basic needs of the children, relieving the pressure on older children who, having lost their parents to AIDS, are forced to take on adult roles.”
The programme is partially funded by the “Keep a Child Alive” a drive co-founded by Alicia Keys. http://keepachildalive.org/our-work/ikageng-itireleng/
I heard a comment from one of the hard-core activists that foreign artists like Bono, Annie Lennox, Sir Bob Geldof and Alicia Keyes do more harm than good being involved in African affairs. “Would you rather see them do drugs like Pete Doherty and his buddies than trying to do something that we as South Africans are sadly failing to do?” was my reply. I found the comment truly bizarre. Any aid project is fraught with potential failure and difficulty but it’s better than letting every go to hell in a hand-cart in my opinion.
Some time ago I posted about the Umuzi Photo Club whose mission statement is;
"To empower learners from developing communities in South Africa with the skill of photography while promoting artistic self-expression and critical thinking as means for social awareness."
This photograph titled “Sky’s the Limit” I have imported form Umuzi’s blog. It’s the work of Joao Nzina, a Grade 11 learner from Hillbrow. The day I take a photograph like this I’ll be thrilled.
The meeting with Nathalie, the work of the Ikageng team, Umuzi and my involvement with the Albert Street School makes me realize again and again that we are only scratching the surface and that is far too many children being left behind in Jozi.
Please do not use the photographs - They are not mine, ask permission first