So, after a long hard think – which took me some months, I realised that And Famous was cool, but not all it was cut out to be. The heart behind it will live on through my work and other projects. I am blogging at http://mrrablog.tumblr.com which is run on tumblr – a much easier and community orientated micro-blogging platform. Follow me there and send me some love. Over and out from me.

Love is not commodity – you can’t buy real love. You can only give it away for free and receive it for free. This is one of at least three boards in this set. Love is not commodity is definitely something i want to explore more. So keep a watch out.

This is one of two stokes that I purchased – yes I did buy two. Some people call it a pair. Half of South Africa might also have this very same pair but I am rather glad to be an owner of a fine specimen of checkerboard bedroom style.

I went to an exhibition of and a talk by a photographer by the name of Xavier Vahed on Tuesday 23 Feb. He is currently a photography lecturer at Vega. The exhibition was named ‘Portrait of the people’, and was then situated at Fat Tuesday, a gallery above Vanilles in Bellevue Campus, Kloof, a place where the likes of ITI and Royal Union are situated. The food was provided by the gallery – which was just finger snacks, but which were so tasty that I did not eat any dinner afterwards – thank you Fat Tuesday. Prints are being sold at R450 unframed and R650 framed.

The exhibition consisted of photos/prints that had been taken of people in Durban, primarily in the CBD. The photos were full body shots, using a technique called strobism, which is shooting with studio like lighting on a budget – using cheaper equipment for the same effect with the added benefit of being much more mobile. The shots were honest photographs of people. The subjects included street sweepers, old ladies, beggars, fashion designers, a kid with balloons, vendors and all kinds of people typically found on the streets and surrounds of Durban. The subjects could pose as pleased, but the poses appear honest and true, they are not models, they are real people. Each framed and hung photo had a placard beneath it with the name and occupation of the subject.

Xavier, when retelling his experiences of the shoot and when explaining his technique, told of how he only ever took 2 photos of a subject. He did this so as to not keep them waiting, one photo was taken with a digital camera and the other with a film camera. His photos are brilliant, especially considering that he only took 2 shots. He is somewhat of a purist in photographic terms, which is rare. He doesn’t believe in altering much in Photoshop so he has to make the most of the situation on the fly, relying on chance, weather, his judgement and his subjects for a great photo, of which most are.

He then spoke about the experience of his outings, his friends that helped him and the wonderful people that he met and shot. This is where I smiled most. His photos are amazing but the stories behind them are what makes the photos authentic and lovely. The amount of love, passion and excitement exuded by Xavier was amazing; his eyes lit up as he retold each one of his meet, greet and shoot scenarios, how they ran to some, stumbled upon others. He told of how the subject changed character in front of the camera, why some characters stood out and why other simply had to be shot. He laughed and smiled as he told us what comments and remarks the subjects made and how long they took to discuss whether or not to sign the release forms. His photos show that personal side – it’s not just a cold shoot of a model with some pretty lighting – they are real people and they are lovely people. He told that he chose most of his shots on the basis that they felt right and it is evident in his photography. Xavier is someone emitting love and passion for what he does and it’s simply inspirational. I applaud you Xavier.

Well, news is what most people have on their site/s. I’ll be using Twitter and Facebook for quick news pieces, but for more in depth news coverage, check out this section of the site. I’m not great at for planning, so I’m not exactly sure what’s going to be in here.

But the first news that I do have is that I’m still working on some initial posts and pages, some functioning aspects of the blog. I am using wordpress, which is quite nice for this kind of a site. An about, bio and contact page will be coming shortly. And I’m working on a messed up skatedeck – I will be painting it. So check back for that sometime soon. All of these are after dinner projects, so I’m not sure how long things will manifest. But I am commited and amped to blog. http://andfamous.com/blog/ is where my old site lives – it’s mostly my Vega 3rd year portfolio, some of my freelance work and some personal projects from last year.

Over and out for the first set of news.

Oh Yeah Studio, a studio set up by a couple who both work at creative agencies during the day, and then collaborated at night, were interviewed in Computer Arts issue 156. The couple combine their skills to produce whatever they want, having fun, using the time and space as a playground to explore new styles, ideas and expressions. They mentioned what would happen if they had to work for clients – “If things were to change we’d split the work into ‘Oh Yeah before dinner’ and ‘Oh Yeah after dinner’! We’d need the after dinner place no matter what happens.

I read this article while I was still a freelancer. It didn’t mean that much to me. But looking back with hindsight, I should have paid more attention to it. As a creative, you always need to be self-producing and self-directing your own projects. You need a playground, a place where mistakes are welcome, where expression is the norm and where clients are non-existent. You need to be expressing yourself somewhere and having fun. You need to be pouring time and love into something, developing your styles and ideas and making stuff that you love. Once you have done your before dinner work and paid all the bills and have dinner on the table, then you can spend time on after dinner projects – and have fun doing it. That is where the expression ‘after dinner’ comes from.

And Famous is about that. It’s about showcasing my ‘after dinner projects’, it is an ‘after dinner project’, interacting with the creative world, exploring it, engaging in it and not just making money from it. This blog is the first project on that list and I think it will grow and change a lot as time continues. I don’t really know what is coming, but I am looking forward to it. Comment on posts after the post on each post page, and comment on the website and And Famous in generality on the feedback page.