Onward through the heat......


We have been flirting with 45 in the shade off and on the last couple of weeks here in the sunny part of deepest darkest. For those of you who don't do ‘C’ 45 is 113+/-. The last few years here at the edge of the Namib, we have been blessed with exceptional rains, 750mm two years ago, over 500 last year, normal is 250 or +/- 10 inches.  We don’t ever get rain without the heat, but there are plenty of years where we get the heat and no rain.  ‘13 is shaping up to be one of those.

So here I sit in my office, aircon already on at 10am, I know full well its environmentally irresponsible of me but for @#$%sake its bloody hot.

The next installment in the Garden series is this photo of three lovely Herero ladies. They walked into my studio a few weeks ago while taking a break from a funeral here. Unlike the Western world where funerals are generally a succinct affair, here they can go on for days and rarely will stretch more than a week.  With the rampaging effects of HIV and AIDS here, it is not at all uncommon for someone to have a funeral to attend most weekends. In some ways this tragedy of health, has become a social event where people gather to pay their respects and to also socialize.  Unlike the West, tribal women here to not wear somber attire to the funeral, hence the colorful dresses. Which I might add are the height of Herero fashion.

In the mid-19^th century with exposure to European fashion, particularly Victorian fashion Herero Women began to adopt this style and then develop it into their own unique interpretation. Prior to that, it was very coarse cloth and animal skins. It can take 10m of cloth to make one of these elaborate dresses which does not included the many layers of petticoats underneath.

 

Enjoy the week were ever you are……

 

 

New Year, new project: As the loyal followers know I live in Omaruru Namibia, just at the edge of beyond.  The upside is I have near limitless access to people, places, and critters. The downside is that I largely work in a bubble. I have little or no access to meaningful conversations with other photographic artists. I am a regular participant of photographic competitions mostly in the outside world (OSW) which while a decent ego stroke when I win or place well, provides me with no meaningful feedback on what and how I can adjust my work to, well, improve. It is supposed to be an evolutionary process after all. But unless you have meaningful exchanges, critiques you get stuck. Competitions are money making undertakings, not designed to help you grow.

Late last year, I bought for the price of a couple competitions, an on-line portfolio review with. EYEIST (www.eyeist.com)


Its pretty straight forward process, you submit 30 images, the portfolio is assigned to a qualified reviewer. In my case,  Ms. Susan Baraz, Ms. Baraz has an impressive CV and on the face of it, has seen and knows, a whole lot more than I do about what does and what does not make a great photograph.  A hundred bucks and a few days later and I received a 5 minute audio review. Overall it was a worthwhile experience. Her observations are that I am a bit chameleon like, in that my style is all over the place, apparently a bad thing. Ms. Baraz liked my nudes, my studio still life’s but recommended I concentrate on my portraiture.  AND that I work hard to create an attributable style.


Omaruru has always provided me with an eclectic cast of characters; imagine the issue from the cast of Twin Peaks and Northern Exposure. No shortage of great faces.


So my ongoing project called ‘garden shots’ (for now until I come up with something arty) began late last year with this engagement photograph of my friend Chris and his new bride. Chris is a Prison Guard Officer at the Omaruru Prison, grew up in a small town about 75kms from Omaruru where he was married just before Christmas.

Thanks for reading, By all means pass my blog link along if you have a mind to.

C

The King is dead, may he rest in peace

You can learn a lot about a people by how they treat their children and elderly, by how they marry and bury, two weeks ago, I had the privilege to learn a lot about the Otjiherero culture, via the Royal Funeral of Chief Christian Zeraua a man I first met 1997 when I relocated to Omaruru. Over the years when we met, pleasantries were always exchanged, in spite of language barriers (mine not his) I knew his greetings were sincere, I found this slight, humble man, to be possessed of a quiet yet inherently powerful confidence that naturally inspired respect from those he encountered.  Until last week I knew nothing of the traditions surrounding a Royal Otjiherero funeral, having photographed a number of Omaruru White Flag celebrations and being present for the von Trotha’s apology I was honored to be named the official photographer for the funeral, by the Royal Family. So began my education.

My efforts to document the Chief’s final journey began on Wednesday with the digging of his final resting place in Omaruru’s historic Rhenish cemetery. 

It was a bitter sweet labor punctuated by the sounds of hard work and quiet laughter, done without complaint, shared by many hands.  

Thursday brought hundreds of mourners to the main road into Omaruru, waiting to greet the Chief as he passed through on his way to the tiny village of Okaumbaaha and his home.

The procession stopped at the border to the traditional homeland of the Chief, and there a small group of people sang a quiet hymn in a language I did not understand, and yet it was amongst the most moving humble tributes I have ever witnessed.

Surrounded by hundreds, escorted by horse mounted Commando’s he was taken to a small in his modest home where prayers and hymns were quietly sung and said. To be in the presence of such intense feelings of sorrow and celebration was deeply moving.

I was just at the door jam to the bedroom where the Chief was laid in state this is from a moment between prayers

The Chief spent Thursday at his homestead, and Friday came back to Omaruru for an evening service at the Ozondje Lutheran Church. 

It was at this service that the VIP’s started to make their presence felt.  Ministers, senior clergy, regional councilors, governors, members of parliament, yes they were all there, but for me the story of Christian Zeraua has far more to do with the nameless thousands who came to pay their respects, to a great Chief then all VIPs who’s presence may or may not have been sincere expressions of condolences.   The Church was standing room only, in fact many people were outside the church listening to the service on loudspeakers, and to me it is these people and all the others like them that are the true measure of the man.

Saturday Morning the Chief went to his Commando in Ozondje one last time, where again he was met by thousands, there to pay their respects and to listen all day long to speakers singing his praises.

One unifying theme throughout the entire funeral from Thursday until Sunday was the humility of the Chief and his role as unifier, freedom fighter and peacemaker.  There were some ceremonial expressions I found wonderful, there was a group of men with mock spears, chanting to the Chief, and transferring strength to him for this last journey.

I also asked about the women who always seemed to sit with the casket.  I was touched to be told that the Chief was never left alone, these were his guardians, a tradition that my culture could well learn from.

Sunday the old Rhenish Chapel was filled to capacity for the final service. If the church was full the surrounds were bursting, not in the 15 years I have lived in Omaruru have I seen such a gathering for any event or circumstance.  

At graveside the final words were said and the Chief was lowered into his tomb, adjacent to his forebears.  With the ceremonial sprinkling of dirt by senior Clerics and the President, ashes to ashes dust to dust, the funeral ended and gradually the crowd dispersed. 

The Royal House of Chief Zeraua, The Municipality of Omaruru, the Offices of the Regional Council, and the Police are all to be commended for their efforts and organization. For my part it was a privilege to be accepted by all and allowed to document this historical event.

Farewell Christian.

2012 a last look at the last of it

The heat here in Omaruru has been brutal, day after day of heat so thick you can cut it. 38, 40, 42 for those of you in the Fahrenheit world that's really hot, stupid hot, and perditions flame...

Not surprisingly when it's this hot I don't feel very creative, in fact I have hardly pressed a shutter, it is the end of the annual Namibian shutdown period which starts early in December and ends starting tomorrow, except for the lawyers who get another 3 weeks. Hopefully pretty much everyone will be back at work and SOBER this next week.



At the end of last year, (makes it sound like a long time ago) I had the opportunity to shoot a wedding here in Omaruru, Carene and Jason Cohen, they came home from New Zealand, well she did, he's a native Kiwi, give the guy credit he had the spheres to wear All Blacks kit around Springbok country. The wedding was on the family farm and the reception was in town at a new facility opened by Gudrun Murray-Mueller at the Wronsky house.



Anyway, once again I was moved by the sense of family and emotion in the air, along with the silly heat of a late afternoon December wedding at the edge of the Namib.

Funny enough, after spending a month or so here the Cohen's packed up and flew to the Philippines......given what's been going on there, i hope they brought umbrellas...



JD and Louise get hitched.....

Last week I had the privilege of photographing a wedding at the coast.  You know in this day and at my age it is way to easy to be jaded about people and institutions. But I have to tell you its been a very long time since I have been in the company of such genuinely decent folks.

This was taken between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay in a favorite spot of JD's, believe it or not we all got up very early the morning after the wedding to go out and shoot these images.

I'll post more on the main page as I get to them.

Thanks JD! Thanks Louise!

I'm back in the office and studio until the 3rd when I have another wedding near Omaruru.


Cheers.

Three degrees off plumb

2011 has been very good for me photographically,  The year is finishing out with a solo exhibition at the FNCC, Franco Namibian Cultural Center in Windhoek.  The work in this show is decidedly different then what has been shown elsewhere. This is what the new English language daily had to say about it.

This was my very first critical review anywhere and I am quite chuffed by it.

Apple Series

My first computer nearly 30 years ago was an Apple Macintosh, My reverence for the creative genius that has come from this company in the years since is huge. I started working on this series long before Mr. Jobs suffered his recent  fatal formatting error. The series was prompted one afternoon nearly a year ago when I was fooling around with a camelthorn pod while eating an apple.  The eyes are vintage German doll eyes from the 1920's

There are 4 images in the series,

I have started printing on Epson Cold Press Bright, it is a stunning paper.

I was also very fortunate to be accepted into Epson's Digigraphie program. Have a look here for more information Digigraphie. With this new series I am limiting prints depending on the image from 9 to 99.

If you wish to see the entire exhibition then please go to my website as there is a gallery devoted to the Three Degrees work.

This image is called 595 and remains another favorite from the current work.

I remain very greatful to those of you who watch my work and this blog, I would appreciate it a lot if you would pass the link on to any firends you have, that might also enjoy the effort.

Have a great Weekend,

C

Sometimes you just get lucky,,,,,

Way back in the beginning of the year there was a call for submissions for a new Namibian competition called "The Month of Photography". This Competition is affiliated with an international competition of the same title that began in Berlin a number of years ago. In view of my ongoing asswhupping in the international competitions I thought perhaps I ought to back up a bit and try to make the cut in a competition closer to home. The brief was well brief, "people and territories" up to 15 images, with an implied urban bias. Given I live in a decidedly non-urban community this made the challenge more interesting. The thought that eventually came to mind was fences and gates and how people approached the line of demarcation between where they live and the outside world. Here in Omaruru there is a clear cultural difference, one is closed fortress or jail like, the other is open and friendly. Interestingly nowhere in the whole town did I ever find a welcome sign.....

My submission was titled, "No-Entry - Come on In" it was accepted and ultimately to my great surprise awarded the Grand Prize in the competition. (scored a trip to Berlin too) So here it is, enjoy.