MORE MOZAMBIQUE PICTURES 2015

Some more pictures taken in and around Inhambane, Barra and Tofu during 2015 - a good place to spend spend some 'relaxing' time with some very adequate reasonably priced accommodation available if one takes the time to do some homework - the worst part is getting there with all of the village speed traps which make the journey twice as long as it needs to be ............... don't drive at night or in the fog - nobody uses their lights and double white lines mean absolutely nothing at all. The side of the road is littered with wrecks yet it seems to make little or no difference to the locals for whom road safety seems to be an alien concept of sorts.

 Some accidental decoration

Street detail

Pavement traders

In the city 

The City Centre

City Roofscape

Graffiti is everywhere

More Graffiti - quite attractive and worth a bit of time - loads of elements

Beach Villa at Praia de Tofu

Tofu Marketplace

Best Pizza ever at this little pizza joint in Tofu

Inhambane city marketplace

MOZAMBIQUE - 2015

And so I ask myself, "What do I have to do to get those of you out there to actually visit  my Blog - to look at the pictures and contemplate the 'Spirit of Place' they were created to confer?" The answer is somewhat disturbing I fear: Social Media has made us horribly lazy - it has created a world of instant gratification, and little or no real contemplation. Hitting a 'like' or an Emoji is simply too easy ........ "let's get on to the next entry" has become the order of the day - and the next - and the next - and the next ........... 
To take things one step further, I believe it must be creating a world full of really inconsiderate lovers - people with no sense of foreplay ....... simply instant gratification. Isn't this perhaps where the whole modern concept of the "hook up" originated? No names, no pack drill - just get it on and get it over with!
I really would feel a whole lot better about the world if just a few of my friends and family would take the trouble to visit the blog, subscribe to it, contemplate the pictures from time to time and let me know their thoughts about what they are seeing under the No comments / Comments link. Now wouldn't that be nice :o)

In 2015 we spent almost two weeks in Mozambique - most of that time in and around Inhambane, Barra and Tofu. The drive up from Ponta D'Ouro to Maputo was an interesting introduction with the so-called highway being one of the worst roads we have ever had the misfortune to travel on in around 200 000km of overlanding through Southern Africa. The 100km took us close to 7 hours through really thick sand / corrugations in some places up to 200mm deep / totally wrecked sections of tar with potholes up to and including 2m x 1m x 800mm deep in places / roller-coaster rides through long sections of valleys and hills just a few meters apart ........ and so on.

Everywhere poverty reigns supreme - the people have little or nothing - and every few kilometers as one approached a village there would be anything up to 30 or 40 women on the side of the road, each with a basket of oranges that she hoped she might sell to a passing traveller. Here and there we would see a bus stop and watch in awe as it was overwhelmed by these people trying desperately to sell their wares. It was much the same in the Praia de Tofu marketplaces ............. stopping to look at anything invited an avalanche of traders desperate to sell you their product which in almost every respect was identical to what everyone else was trying to sell.

Remembering back over the years to those early days in Pretoria and the amazing LM Prawns that we had access to we were keen to find the same again - but at the source ......... no such luck: the largest prawn we found anywhere was hardly the size of my little finger and very, very poorly presented. Peri Peri Chicken became the staple while we were there, this at least hitting the spot in terms of both memory and heat.

I don't know how many people who visit Inhambane actually take the time to walk through the old town. It is fascinating in a great many respects, with remnants of a good deal of old Portuguese architecture mixed everywhere with 1930's derivatives of Gropius' Bauhaus designs ............. many quite beautiful in their lines, but oh so neglected! It has a very special "Spirit" which is all its own - the lagoon is stunning at all times of day, and despite Vodacom having seemingly taken total control of the  town (which was elevated to the status of City on the 12th August while we were there), the faded and blistered colors which adorn its architecture make it very beautiful in a forlorn sort of way.

The war is definitely not over ............... remnants of its destructive force are everywhere evident and the threat of resurgence seems to be on the minds of many of those people we spoke to - lets just hope that the influence of the new colonists - the Chinese - at least keeps the terror at bay while the people 'hopefully' get a chance to rebuild their lives.

On the whole we found the sea and the beaches beautiful - the countryside boring and often ugly - the people very poor and the resorts (those still in operation), pretentious with little or nothing of any value to offer. Mozambique is in serious need of 'heart' ............... something that will inspire its people to really appreciate what they have at their fingertips but have allowed South Africans and other foreigners to exploit at their expense.

Inhambane - Mozambique August 2015

Inhambane Lagoon at sunset

Once proud Inhambane Villa

Inhambane Cathedral Clocktower

Cathedral detail

Cathedral column detail

Cathedral yard detail

Bauhaus detail (1930's ?)

Bauhaus detail (1930's ?)

Dhow fishing on the lagoon

Somewhere in the city

SAINT-PAUL-DE-VENCE May 1973

In my previous post I spoke a little about Saint-Paul-De-Vence and how much the time we spent there meant to us - that was all 45 years ago, and I often wonder if it has changed much. I shouldn't think so ........ I can't imagine that the authorities would allow too many changes to one of the oldest Medieval villages in France - but if you have been there more recently than we have, please hit the Comments / No Comments link and tell me about your experiences there - did you sense that same Spirit of Place that we did?

More Images of Saint-Paul-De-Vence taken in 1973

SOUTH OF FRANCE - May 1973

A couple of my previous postings seem to have created a little confusion amongst friends (possibly because they aren't reading the Blog) - so here's an overview: In May 1973 Pat and I did a bit of a pilgrimage through France visiting most of Le Corbusier's buildings, including his Pavilion in Zurich, after moving on to spend some time in Tuscany and Venice. While in the South of France our good friend Lisa Woodsworth accommodated us in her apartment in Aix-en-Provence, which was the perfect center for exploring the region. We spent a day with Lisa at Cassis where we lazed on the beach and watched a game of Boules unfold in one of the squares. I clearly recall the atmosphere inn that square, and fortunately have a picture to remind me of some of the details ........ it really was very French. We braaied on the slopes of Mont Sainte-Victoire outside Aix (immortalized time and again by Cezanne in his various paintings), and we spent many happy hours in Saint-Paul-De-Vence, one of the oldest Medieval towns on the Riviera, just burying ourselves in everything that surrounded us - again, that absolute and utter Spirit of Place, "I am watching you ....... are you watching yourself in me?" There were just so many details, so many little galleries, including the wonderful Fondation Maeght which is nearby. The village was home to Marc Chagall (and numerous other artists), and we recall an amazing exhibition of "ceramics" by Jean Miro, the master of "nothing is what it appears to be" at the Fondation Maeght, all of which turned out to be made of glass fibre. The American writer James Baldwin died in the village in 1987 as did the British actor Donald Pleasance in 1995....... both well after we visited, and I believe it is still home to former Rolling Stones Bassist, Bill Wyman.
If ever you are in the area be sure to visit both Cassis and Saint-Paul-De-Vence.

A game of boules in Cassis

Images of Saint-Paul-De-Vence

AVIGNON - May 1973

Can there be any more evocative place in the South of France than Avignon? With its remarkable history dating from the Stone Age to its highlight as the seat of the Papacy from 1309 to 1377 after they vacated Rome to escape the corruption that ruled there at the end of the 13th and early 14th centuries. Just getting into the site of the old city between the rocks and old Medieval Ramparts was a thrill we shall never forget. Also, the view down onto the old stone bridge across the Rhone (which was one of only three permitting access to the North in ancient times), elicited all manor of imaginings concerning who, and when, and how.
Then just a year later (1974), Lawrence Durrell published Monsieur, the first of the 5 novels that make up the Avignon Quintet, and I was fortunate enough to get him to inscribe my copy for our eldest son, Caradoc, who was named after a character from his earlier two novels Tunc and Nunquam (The Revolt of Aphrodite) ......... all of this obviously rendering Avignon even more indelibly in our minds. 

Click on images to view enlargements

The Old Stone Bridge at Avignon

Entrance to the old walled City

ARLES - May 1973

I used to have a lot of fun with the old Pentax Spotmatic. There were a few places in Europe in particular that meant a great deal to both Pat and I, and a few (like Le Corbusier's chapel at Ronchamp), that we went back to on two or three occasions ............. always with Illford black and white film that I could develop and print when we got home to London ....... I generally went with an ASA 400 that I could double up to 800 for more speed and better ability in low light.............plenty of noise though! But at ASA400 I generally got some very nice shots that today bring back many feelings and emotions of where we were then that I was trying to encapsulate. Some have certainly done their job and give meaning, all these years later, to that Spirit of Place that we were in search of then. 
Vincent van Gogh's painting of the Bridge at Arles was what led us there - today still I can recall the warmth of the sun and much of what I felt when first we came across the walls of the Amphitheater in the town. The bridge itself was a revelation, and we spent a lot of time just hanging around it ................ no tourists - just us - contemplating what Vincent might have felt while he was there.
Another overriding memory of Arles is the amazing Suacisson D'Arles, pure and simple: just pork and salt - what else do you need? Having Googled it, it appears now to be exactly as it was then, except then it was simply everywhere, hanging in every store and coffee shop ........ and just soooooo good. 

All the pictures below were taken in May 1973 - Click on the pictures to view enlargements.

The Amphitheater 

Van Gogh's Bridge at Arles (with the white house)

Pat on the bridge in front of the white house

Contemplating Vincent

Vincent's view

ESELBANK - CEDERBERG

Eselbank is situated high in the Cederberg Mountains of the Western Cape and is home to that phenomenon known as Rooibos Tea where the plant grows naturally, and where it is now farmed extensively. Being on top of the range after driving up either from Matjiesrivier in the South - or the Moravian mission village of Wupperthal in the North - offers a unique take on the concept of Spirit of Place. There is a distinct and identifiable community - people, kids, dogs, donkeys and chickens, all of whom happily accept one's presence in their isolated enclave without question ............... just being in Eselbank somehow sets one apart from the rest of the world.
Getting there is not easy, and the Eselbank Pass, which also appears on some maps as the KerskopPass, is 10,5 km long and is very steep in places, but these sections have been concreted which assists greatly with traction. It has an average gradient of 1:21 but the steep sections get up to 1:5. The mountain scenery and the waterfall just north of the village make it a very special place.

THE ESELBANK PASS - LOOKING SOUTH TOWARDS MATJIESRIVIER

Nikon D750 - 1/100sec at f10.0 - Focal Length 70mm - ISO 100

June 6 - 2017 - 11h21

ESELBANK RESIDENT ENJOYING THE WINTER SUNSHINE

Finepix S5700 - 1/300sec at f5.0 - Focal Length 27.4mm - ISO 64

August 26 - 2007 - 13h43

The Marienfluss - Namibia

Nikon D750 - 1/640sec at f9.0 - Focal Length 50mm - ISO 125

April 7 - 2016 - 17h29

This image was one of many taken while driving through the Marienfluss (North-west of the Kaokoland in Namibia), while on our way back to the Kunene River after descending Van Zyl's Pass. The immense sense of space and utter beauty that surrounds one on this plain between the mountains asks many questions of us in terms of our place in this incredible environment ............... more than most other places it made me once again very much aware of the enormity of my insignificance.

Getting Started

"That he not busy being born is busy dying" ...............from "It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)" by the immortal Bob Dylan.

 So here I am, busy being born again at 71 ......... following a passion that has been with me since I got my first Kodak Brownie 127 camera from my mother at the age of 10 (1956).

At 19 years of age when I went into the army I graduated to a fantastic little Olympus Pen EE-S fully automatic camera with which I took literally thousands of great slides over a period of about two years.

In 1968 I bought my first SLR - a Pentax Spotmatic just like the one that Sam Haskins was using, and am happy to say that I still have it today in full working order all these years later.  During our seven years in the UK ('68/69 to '76), I taught myself developing and printing (Black & White), as I am sure a great many other people did, and today retain hundreds of negatives and contact sheets of pictures taken during that very happy period of our lives, a few of which I have had converted to Digital format purely for the sake of reminiscence, and which I call up from time to time just to remind myself what it was once like to be so young.

I now use a Nikon D750 FX with a variety of lenses and a D5100 DX that is a wonderful standby ....... they really do everything that I need them to do.

The point of this Blog is to provide a track record of sorts (though not necessarily in chronological order), of photographs that I have taken - and will continue to take - along with a brief summary of the circumstances in which they were taken ........... for posterity? ...... perhaps! .... but moreso as something that I can refer family, friends, acquaintances and strangers to as a record of who I am - where I came from - what made me (and still makes me), happy or sad ............. and in so doing perhaps provides each of them - and each of you - who deign to read these entries, with a moment's pleasure or a moment's introspection, and the encouragement to keep at it, whatever it is, because in Dylan's timeless words "........ he not busy being born is busy dying".

 I have always tried to take 'good' pictures - more often than not giving time and thought to composition, exposure, storyline and balance, and would very much like to think that most of those that I have taken qualify as 'photographs' ......... if I may quote the very bright and equally talented Mr. Don Pinnock:
"The structured process of a photograph is an idea lensed through framing colours, light and a camera of a mental representation of a moment in time. Its power (and what makes a good photograph) is not that it captures the moment, though it does, but that it communicates the photographer's language of mind, his or her visual syntax. It's the communication through technology of an idea which nests within a small rectangular, two-dimensional scrap of a near-infinite world. 
Photography is to snapshots what ballet is to skipping. 
It's a language of the mind - even when taking a photograph of a baboon trying to figure out what I'm doing."
This excerpt is from Don's wonderful 'wanderings of a bemused naturalist'- WILD AS IT GETS. Do yourself a favour and get it now!

Nikon D750 - 1/160sec at f5.6 - Focal Length 150 - ISO 320

April 6 - 2016

This image probably best sums up what I mean by Spirit of Place, what I am hoping that my pictures will best express. Taken while we were filling up with diesel poured from plastic drums in Okangwati (South of Epupa Falls on our way to Van Zyl's Pass in Northern Namibia), it asks me, in Lawrence Durrell's words "I am watching you - are you watching yourself in me?"  The Himba man conversing with the two young Himba maidens - the dog seeking shade from the makeshift food stall with rocks and an old tyre holding down the iron roof sheets - the piece of raw meat hanging from a post - the fire - the enamel basin full of 'vetkoek'  - the oxide wall that matches the dye in the one girl's hair ............ all of these I feel attempted to capture the cross-over between age-old Himba tradition and the 21st Century. The confusion of their trying to fit into my world and my wonder at how I might fit into theirs.