Under The Boardwalk By The Sea

Dark And Lovely

Dark and Lovely is what you have to be !

Or thin and blonde !

Your hair should be straight no matter what the color of your skin.

At the end of  many a road  you will be remebered of this fact,

like here in Church Street in Quigney

so that you do not forget what the world wants.

Afraid

Fear

Resignation

Protest

Terror

Desperation

Hopelessness

Weakness

But then regained force, strength

freedom

A Velvet Yellow

The Longest Lashes

Chocolat Negro Photography

The Virgin Flowers

available at Chocolat Negro Photography

Old Lorenco Marques - The City Of Acacias

Then Called Polana Beach, Maputo, Mozambique

Something new and a little bit of old every day of your life. Seems like a good philosophy to me.

In this picture a view of Polana Beach in Maputo in the 1950's, also known as Lourenco Marques, capital of Mozambique.

Maputo is known as the City of Acacias in reference to the many acacia trees commonly found along its avenues. Another name given to it is the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its municipal building.

In this picture we see a partial view of Lourenco Marques commercial zone in the 1950's

Old Lourenco Marques - because it does really not look as sleepy as this anymore. Today it is a port city on the Indian ocean with its economy centered around the harbour and an estimated 9 % annual growth rate. 

Close to 1 800.000 million people live in Maputo. It is estimated that 80% of the city's population lives in slums without running water or electricity but the city has little money to invest in infrastructure.

Inequality in Maputo has grown considerably.

Around The Old Belcrave Hotel

If the Belcrave had a once more galmourous and luxurious past I do not know. I am not sure if part of the letter " G" in the name is missing because this building borders the suburb Belgravia. Or if  BELCRAVE  is the original name. The buildings at this street-corner fascninate me through their faded color, large balconies and eclectic appeareance.

They are situated on a corner of Oxfordstreet in Belgravia. Today the shops on the ground floor host a buy and sell, a beauty and hair salon as well as a second hand shop which I have the habit of visting from time to time.

I know that some East Londoners are faithful readers of this blog which I really appreciate. In case you have not realized it, you can leave comments on the blog. Under each post you will find the option " comments". By clicking on comments you will be led to a comment form which is also open now for readers who are not registered on blogger. One of the propositions that I have received was to enable leaving comments for readers who are not on blogger.
If you like something, have an idea or if you know something about a building or a place that would complement a post please do not hesitate to comment. Comments and interaction are welcome !

The OK Beauty Salon

A visit is gonna make you feel really OK.

Emma - Waiting For Her Lover

I have done a series called " Emma" in 2010.  Emma is an antique German bisque half doll with genuine human hair and a delicately hand painted face. I have used her for several photographic installations. Emma looks so real and alive once photographed that it is nearly a little but scary. It is as if the photo breathes life into her.

Swakopmund - Fishing From The Old Jetty

These old color prints show us what Swakopmund looked like in the 1950's before Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt made this town famous by awaiting the birth to their child there in a seaside resort close by. Swakopmund was just a sleepy, very misty little village situated at the rough Atlantic coast of Namibia, then still called SWA - South West Africa. The old jetty was the place to be for fishing, and probably still is. At the time the wooden boards had holes and at a later stage it was even difficult to get to the end of the jetty.

A bird's eye view of the town with the vast Namib desert in the background. Then and now one of the most fascinating places in the world.

Today the town has changed completely. It has grown enormously and has become a tourist haven. I have spent many holidays there but I found it difficult to recognise the old streets.

Butterfly Leaf

A Tale Of Pure Perfection

This tale speaks in pictures

The feathers and the eyes

tell you a story of pure perfection

and divine grace

This tale makes you see

The Spirit of the Sky

Powder

Men At Work

Men at Work can sometimes be a scary thing to watch.

I had this thought for the first time when I saw my father cutting the garden hedge with an electric chain saw.

And I was offered many occasions since then to re-think this thought and ponder on it deeply.

Admittedly the neon brights safety ropes can not be overlooked and they are nicely criss crossing each other. They men seem all to be attached. The question is just to what are they attached ? I guess to each other. But the end of the rope .. ?

The one who was left on the bottom seems to have similar thoughts or he has his own serious topics to meditate on.

Stranded

A white painted deck was beached at Nahoon after the heavy rains in July.
One of many.

All shattered and ship-wrecked, beautiful in its ravaged appearance.

I immediately saw that this would make a perfect setting for a fashion photo shoot. It does not come better.

But guess what?  

South Africa being a country where nothing is left unused and everything is recycled the one way or another, the next day when I came back with a model it was basically stripped down and only some planks and the tires were left.

Pity ! My loss !
But somebody's gain.
May be, these planks help now keeping a ceiling up.

My First Friend

That was the first time ever when I asked someone to become my friend and I remember it clearly. At the age of two and a half the perception and understandiung of the difference between diverse and unique life-forms is amazingly not very profound - which is a beautiful thing in itself because it allows for simple communication. But since that time I like very tall people with a wide open face and a broad grin.

Etosha - It Was Then......

It was in the year nineteen hundred really don't ask me when.......... when my parents with my younger brother and a friend where on the road in Namibia. With the best car in the whole world !