Steve McCurry

I have a strong interest in history, people, different cultures and past and present architecture. I find my appreciation of these different aspects of life strongly influences my photography and the way I perceive and interpret images. Although I have developed an understanding of different styles of photography over the years, I am more inclined towards portrait photography. Portrait photography enables the photographer to explore different characters and tell a story about historical or cultural tradition. It can trigger great emotional responses, and take the viewer on a journey.

Steve McCurry mainly uses a Nikon D2X digital camera and a Nikon F100 film camera 50 millimetre lens, 35 millimetre lens, 28 millimetre lens, and possibly an 85 millimetre lens also (Parra 2006). Unfortunately in the case of this particular photograph, I am not sure which lens or camera he used.

Steve Mc Curry is one of my favourite photographers, his images are very strong and attractive. I feel his work are more of a documentary type nevertheless, when looking at his images they make you wonder into thought because they they gaze back at you like this one below.

Steve McCurry

"Afghan Girl, Peshawar, Pakistan, 1984"

Above is an image title the Afghan Girl, I really like this portrait, there are some thing I realised looking at this picture, firstly the background is green, her eyes are green and beneath her read scarf she is also wearing green, I wonder if Steve Mc Curry shot her with the green background intentionally or it was just by chance.

Steve McCurry

"Coal Miner with Cigarette, Pol-e Khomri, Afghanistan, 2002"

This is another example of McCurry's portrait, very strong and impressive, we can almost read the story behind this man's life. The eyes tells us everything.

http://www.soulcatcherstudio.com/exhibitions/mccurry/

Religion and Reasoning.

Over the years I have tried to understand the benefit that people gain from being part of one of the groups within this category (Religion). I was a Christian for over twenty five years; I was devoted and unchanging to my religious practice. I thought nothing could alter the thought pattern within my religious principle. Well fortunately to my shock new discoveries where awaiting me in the short future ahead.

I CAN NOT discriminate against anyone’s principle or religion, neither can I assume that my way of life now is perfect but I would like to say that I am perfecting every day, understanding the purpose of good and evil in this world. Nevertheless I feel that it is important that individuals within a religious group should step out of the circumference of their religious circle and explore the history, the events that accrued before they were born and how it has metamorphosis into what it is today. The groups within this category have suffer as well has inflicted more pain on the very essence of mankind than any act of evil that can be inflicted upon the human race.

I ask myself, why do people not want to know about the origin of their religious beliefs system. I have concluded that the fight of good against evil will never end; both are an inevitable balance of life, they both work together. We should not be trying to be good or fighting against evil, instead understand how the balance work and how it can be utilised with the support of how emotion through reasoning of from our conscience mind. We can never say “why did that bad thing happen, or say thing happen by luck or chance, we control everything around us, but we cannot progress to higher level of consciousness unless we surrender everything we think we know.

Until then the war goes on.

We have the Ying and the Yang, the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, Left and right. Everything has its opposite how can one exist without the other.

http://designious.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ying-yang.jpg

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo represents the traditional culture of South Africa and is regarded as the country's cultural emissary at home and around the world. The traditional music sung by Ladysmith Black Mambazo is called ISICATHAMIYA (Is-Cot-A-Me-Ya).

The name LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO is a combination of name and meaning put together (Ladysmith) is the hometown of the head singer Joseph Shabalala and his family; (Black) refers to the black oxen, considered to be the strongest amongst the other oxen on the farm. The Zulu word (Mambazo) refers to an axe it symbolises the group's ability to "chop down" the competition.

I find their dancing and singing very moving, strong harmony that captivates you. I first heard them in 1991 singing (The Moon Is Walking) at the end of Michael Jacksons Moon walker video, I was 10 years old then. I spent years looking for them, until I heard them on the Heinz Back beans advert, even though I could not see them I recognised their voice. Then the actual track that was played on the advert was advertised for sale in Woolworth where I bought my first of their music. I have all their albums and some of their video tape and DVD. All my friends know, my favourite music group is the Ladysmith Black Mambazo. My wish it to meet them and go to their concert.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo ... doin' the dance

Ashanti Kente Cloth

The KENTE Cloth is a multicolored hand woven material made in Ghana by the Ashanti tribe, it is one of the best know African textile; every cloth is made up of different dazzling shapes and patterns geometric shape and bold design giving each cloth its individual identity and distinction. Every color and pattern has a specific meaning.

Kente Colours And Their Meanings

Yellow	represents the yolk of the egg as well as certain fruits and vegetables. The colour is a symbol for things that are holy and precious.
Pink	is used to symbolize gentle qualities such as calmness, sweetness, and tenderness.
Red	stands for blood and for strong political and spiritual feelings.
Maroon	is associated with the colour of Earth, the mother. It represents healing and protection from evil.
Blue	stands for the sky and is used to symbolize holiness, peace, harmony, good fortune, and love.
Green	is associated with plants and stand for growth and good health.
Gold	like the metal gold, is a symbol of royalty, wealth, and spiritual purity.
White	represents the white of an egg as well as the white clay that is used in certain rituals. It stands for purity and healing.
Black	stands for aging because in nature things get darker as they get older. Black also stands for strong spiritual energy, and the spirits of the ancestors.
Grey	represents ashes, which are used for spiritual cleansing.
Silver	stands for the moon and represents serenity, purity and joy.
Purple	like maroon, is associated with Earth and with healing.

Traditionally the Kente was the cloth of royalty and the rich, it is considered to be more important than just being a cloth in a total cultural content,

The patterns are so intricate that the artist amid a welter ball of cotton thread of every color, Ghana and the Kente are culturally entwined, removing the Kente out of Ghana would be like removing fish out of the sea.

Yoruba People

Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. Yoruba is a language culture and a religion all in one. The Yoruba constitute around 30 million individuals throughout West Africa and are found predominantly in Nigeria with approximately 21 percent of its total population. The Yoruba Kingdom of Ife experienced a golden age between 1100 AD and 1700 AD, it literally break my heart to say the allot of the tradition and the culture of the Yoruba people is been lost every day because more and more people are embracing the European culture.

This is one of many brass Terracotta sculptures that were found in 1910, buried in a palm grove at Wunmonije Compound, Ife, Nigeria. Estimated date: late 14th-early16th century. Western expert have argue and speculated how such a fascinating work of art could have been created by indigenous people, they’ve even disputed that the artefact was a fake and that it was too sophisticated to have been created by African hands.

The land of Ife is within Yoruba land and was once a thriving city as a Yoruba man it makes me proud to see such discovery being exhibited at the British Museum for the whole country to see. This work of art is a modern physical manifestation of my people’s ancient art creative skill.

Books:

The Yoruba City in History, by Oluremi I. Obateru

The Black World, By Prince Justice

Salaam Bombay Movie

This movie is very moving, funny and sad at the same time it is based in India, Bombay in the 1980's. It is basically about children from the age of about 4 years and above, living in the street of Bombay hustling to make a living by any means. The film focuses particularly on a young boy who was sent to work in a circus for breaking his little brothers bike by his mother, whiles working one day, he was sent on an heron and on his return the whole circus had packed up and moved out of the location leaving him behind.

He spend the rest of the film meeting other kids on the street, working and getting in all kind of trouble. I chose to talk about this film because it depict reality and according to the extra footage in the DVD the director interviews some of the kids and they are actually from the slums of the city.

It could not get more real than this, this film remind me of Nan Goldin, capturing the true reality of her life and some of the people in her society. This film emphasises on the pain that these children suffer and the illusion of happiness they create from themselves. I have lost count of how many times I've watch this film, some might say I'm obsessed with it on the contrary, I am rather fascinated by the message being demonstrated. I make a comparison to where I'm from in West Africa and how things where like back in the 80's and it similarities to this film.

Feminism

Feminism is a social movement that seeks equal rights for women. Women have been oppressed for many year in different country and cultures around the world. I strongly shear the view that religion as intensified this oppression by misogynistic men who procrastinate egotistically, men who are coming from a weak constituency that look like it has lost its testicular fortitude. In their ego they make wars and preaching pointless words of faith that that corrupts the mental stability of society.

It is this misogynistic attitude that brought forth the reaction from Guerrilla Girls in the art world, defending the right for women's work to be give the same recognition as the men. The Guerrilla Girls are the antibiotic to art world injustice system. They were originally formed in New York in 1985, they individually took upon the names of dead female artists in order to focus attention on matters they want to highlighting rather than their own personalities.

Like anything in this world the more you oppress it, eventually it will build up the defence to fight back and and in most cases they always overcome their oppressors.

As much as thing have changed over the years, in many African tribes women are recognised as the head of the tribal community and a stronger role model, for example in the case of Shake the Zulu King, even though Shake was the King his mother influence most of this decision making even plan some of his war attack strategies. I think some of the European feminist will find the frame of mind interesting.

http://www.guerrillagirls.com/posters/venicewallf.shtml

http://schools-wikipedia.org/images/58/5828.jpg.htm

http://channel.tate.org.uk/media/26702572001