I was taken by a friend to a shop in Southernwood, that reminded me of my childhood and the years I have spent with my grandmother. My grandmother was an amazing seamstress. She was capable of sewing a ballgown from an old curtain within four or five hours, should the need arise. It would be a ballgown that could be worn on the red carpert in Cannes and that would fit you perfectly.
Shops like this factory shop in Southerwood have become rare. People do not sew that much any more in many places of the world.
But they still sew in South Africa.
My grandmother learned sewing when she was fourteen years old and she had refined her skills throughout her whole life. She designed the clothes for her daughter and later for her grandchild, me. At one point in time she used the left over fabrics pieces, because they had just the right size, to make small dresses for me when I was three or four yeasr old.
There are many photographs in old albums, showing my aunt and me in " partnerlook".
Making a garment for someone is something special and has a certain serenity to it.
It is an act of creation.
Like the feel in this shop.
Beautiful fabrics spread magic around them.
When I shoot a portrait I take pictures in a sequence. I talk to the person until he or she is comfortable and forgets that I have a camera in my hand. The result has similarity with a short movie film.
Every second a person's facial expression changes.
And I like to show the pictures in that same sequence.
Of course there are always people who wonder and ask themselves what is there to see in such a place.
The world is just my private playground
And I think others feel the magic too.
