WEEK 12 A PHOTOGRAPHIC CHARACTER STUDY

 

THE VIEW, PARKTOWN

I am still concerned about the people in Turkey and Syria that are severely impacted by the earthquakes and the after shocks that tore the land apart on 6 February 2023. How are they coping? I asked you, my readers, how are you “coping” with this brutal creativity? Some of reacted on my Facebook page and I do appreciate it. Please keep working and keep on make a difference in life.

In the meantime, we genealogists of West Gauteng Branch of the Genealogical Society of South Africa [GSSA] visited the Transvaal Scottish Regimental HQ – “The View” in Parktown, Johannesburg. And it was such a pleasure. I hasten to add that we had the immense privilege of securing James Mitchell as our host and guide. He is such a character – I was standing outside admiring the garden, the trees and the magnificent and imposing homestead.

The tree

As a youngster I thought I should follow photography as a career. I haven’t.

Jerry Uelsmann famously said something like this that a camera is a license to explore. With that in mind, I fell in love with this special niche called street photography. And that caused some havoc. So much so that, some time ago, I was reported to the Law Society [as it then was] and even to the Human Rights Commission. The complainant requested the Law Society to move for my removal as a lawyer. Well, it didn’t happen; that is another story waiting.

I haven’t pursued this wonderful hobby of street photography for a number of years until last Saturday 18 March 2023. That was, until I saw this man sitting quietly at a table in the bar at THE VIEW, intently busy with his cell phone. It seems to me from a distance, as if he was struggling to see properly – what was it? Bad lighting? Bad eyesight? That was the least of my concerns. He was minding his own business; it was him and his cell phone in deep conversation. The rest of the patrons at the bar were concentrating on their drinks. This was going all the while the bagpipes were “piping” as it were.

So, every body was going about their own business. And I saw him sitting there. Without further thinking my old intuitions fired up and I was zooming in on him.

I sat at the other side of the table. That would give me the perfect place to observe him at close range. He was oblivious of my presence. And I greeted him. He looked up, had to refocus to come from where-ever his mind was – I could clearly see how he returned to planet earth from his planet he was visiting. And he smiled and greeted me. I was very welcome; I was welcome, even breaking into his solitude and interaction with his cell.

And we started chatting. I asked him permission, which I normally don’t do, but in this instance it was “in your face” camera-work, to capture him. He was surprised and he tolerated me snapping away. He was such a wonderful man to approach and to chat with. Another gentleman approached us and called him outside because there was a group of people waiting for him. It was my group; my group of genealogists. Only then did I find out that he was our host.

While we were chatting and I clicking on my cell, the bagpipers were busy. I noticed a lady which transpired to be Emily Pentz [the only lady I saw that afternoon]. She went into the room to face the judges so to speak and the door was closed. That left me outside next to the door with my cell phone at the ready. I decided to make a short audio-visual presentation of her piping [just the music] and of him smiling and chatting to me and interacting with his cell phone. My friends were waiting outside while I was having a ball of a time.

I took more than 40 photos of him – it is a character study! I cannot remember whether I had such a opportunity to capture a persons character impromptu!!! I edited some and today I will treat you to look at James Mitchell. 

Youtube video of my character study 

You may also look at the audio visual on my youtube channel 

 

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Week 11 Antakya - my new art project - so called

 Screenshot of the olive grove that was ripped apart on 6 February 2023 in Antakya, Turkey

A brand-new week that is behind us. A clean slate as it were; and yet there are 12.5 million people in Turkey and Syria that were adversely affected by the devastating earthquakes and the hundreds of aftershocks. They lost everything, except their lives. I think that the trauma must be almost unbearable. It must be sheer horror.

Video of the chasm that was ripped open.

I won’t forget that night I received a whatsapp from my brother-in-law who lives in Wellington, Western Cape, South Africa informing me about this. My initial reaction was one of disbelief and to put in the category of fake news. And then my quest began: can I believe this? Or not? And it quickly turned out that it is true. It is a horrific truth, but still true. My next reaction was that it was a brutal creative display of natural forces; the same brutal creativity since the beginning of earth time.

My short protest about the exotic cats in captivity in South Africa is about at its end and by that I mean my sketch I created to register my dismay at this abuse of nature. Being a lawyer, I kept on reading about this phenomenon of animals in captivity, it transpired that there are more Bengal tigers in captivity in the USA than there are in their natural habitat. Well, I enjoyed my short expedition into this lot.

My "protest" against these exotic animals in captivity.

Now, I am onto the earthquake and the devastating effects in specifically Antakya. Antakya? Yes, that is Antioch in New Testament times. It is the same place where St Peter and St Paul were working tirelessly promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Crucified and the Resurrected One – the cutting edge of our Christian faith and rest. And I am aware how polemical this statement is. The cutting edge between the Christian faith and the rest? Really?

This is an aspect or viewpoint if you will, that is crucial. You either believe it or you don’t. You can’t have it both ways. Christ was murdered; it was a judicial murder. Judge Pontius Pilate found Him not-guilt of anything deserving the death penalty. This Judge was a strange character. So far it seems to me as if he is the only judge who was of the view that you, as a judge, should find the same suspect of heinous crimes worthy of death, not-guilty three times. Can you imagine? Three times not guilty. And then he did another thing that a judge should not do. When an accused is found not-guilty, such a person should be unshackled, and set free. Not Pilate. Oh, not him. He then handed Christ over to the murderous Jewish mob and the Roman Soldiers to crucify Him. Horrible. But true. Three days later He rose from the dead. St Paul, the same man, who worked tirelessly in Antakya/Antioch, promoting these facts, wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 about this lot.

I am trying to get to grips with this brutal creativity

Back to that whatsapp and Antakya. More than 50 000 people perished. Hundreds of thousands of buildings and structures were demolished. With all of this, the infrastructure of businesses and professional services came to an abrupt end. And landscapes were changed. For ever? Or shall I state until the next devasting quake; you see, Turkey is in the centre of an earthquake belt so to say. I read last night that there were more than 500 000 quakes last year of which only 100 were devastatingly destructive. And these two in Antakya of 6 February 2023 are part of the 500 000.

All of the above photos are from Antakya - how do you sketch the ruins? Rubble?

I am trying to make sense of this happening; trying to comprehend it; trying to come to grips with it. It eludes me. The videos that circulated on social media is riveting and at the same time repulsive. Now, I try to create something. And once again I will have it laminated and use as a place mat at the table. I downloaded images of the city that was destroyed and try to sketch the rubble. How do you sketch rubble? The glib and easy answer is just as you would an elephant, or a motor vehicle. I battle with that. I think I should go to a building site where a building was demolished and study it and take some photo’s – yes, I realise it is not the same. I must do something. And I will.

How are you doing? What are you doing with this quake? Does it affect you? How? And what are you doing to comprehend it? How do you grasp it?

Please write me your story: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za

 

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Week 10 Exotic big cats in private captivity in South Africa: legit without a permit? Unfortunately, so.

Tiger in captivity at Lory Park Zoo, Midrand

My wife and I visited a private zoo, or a boutique zoo, in Midrand and it was such a pleasure to be there. The place is kept very clean and to my mind the animals are kept in good condition – except these animals are deprived of their freedom in the wild. It is, without saying, the ultimate space for them: their natural habitat; the wild open spaces. Having said that, it is virtually impossible for me to have had access to these exotics in the wild – this is obviously the second best for both them and us.

And it seems as if a lot of scientific research is done on them. And I am very aware of that High Court matter in respect of the elephants in the Johannesburg Zoo – you would have read my write-up about that. I am still waiting the outcomes of this matter. After I did some reading about wild animals in captivity, I am not so sure whether the Court will be sympathetic to the applicants.

I took these two videos with my cell and am happy with the outcomes. What a magnificent creature – and well kept.

Please visit it Lory Park Zoo. 

My sketch protest against these exotic animals in private captivity is finished and remains to be laminated to be my first placemat to display while we are eating. At the moment I am busy with my next art project and I will keep a “secret” for a while – once again something very current and very real and scary but yet brutally creative.

With some reading done, I came to a shocking discovery and that is that there are more Bengal tigers in the USA in captivity than there are specimens in the wild. Please visit this website and read it for yourself.

Here is a quote from the one website [ANIMAL LEGALDEFENSE FUND est 1979 link] pertaining to the USA:

“More tigers live in cages in this country, than exist in all the wild. They are just some of the millions of wild animals living in captivity across the United States. Some are in aquariums, circuses, theme parks and zoos, others live caged at private homes.”

This website is brim-full of articles that will make your hand stand up in horror! And it refers to a number of legal actions against the authorities to take action.

The RSPCA’s article on WELFARE OF WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY is also worth a visit and to spend some time there.

And there is no legislation to regulate and protect it – this pertains to our beautiful country as well.

This holds true not only for tigers, but all kinds of wild exotic animals. I would venture a guess about the High Court Case about our Elephants in the Johannesburg Zoo, that it might go against the applicants who apply for the relocation of these animals. Initially I was swayed in favour of the applicants’ case, but now it seems to be open to some doubt. I suggest that there are, or might be, some good reason to keep these in  captivity. Maybe, and I have not researched this aspect, it needs better regulations and patrolling of these facilities?

Having said all of this about the Elephants-case, their legal team and experts, are a lot to be reckoned with; not mickey mouse stuff this. Heavy weights. But … we are waiting the Courts views with bated breath.

I came to the very sad conclusion about my “protest” against exotic Bengal Tigers in captivity in the RSA, that this a not going to succeed to have it eradicated or to cause these animals to be returned to their natural habitat. On the positive side, I at least have done something to draw attention to this phenomenon; every time we use the place mat on our table, I will know, and my guests, will know, about this huge problem and that there are animals in distress – and mostly it is us, human beings, that is causing it. And I hope that it will elicit a good lively discussion.

And, besides, I enjoyed this art project.

Please write me you story: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za

 

 

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