MOPP.org.za

titbits about me

about me as a human being
My name is Lindiwe Nkutha, I was born a little over thirty years ago in Soweto. i live in Westedene - Jozi. In the early days of my life I thought I wanted nothing more than to become an accountant. so I studied to become one, and for a while worked as one, until my life brought me to the realisation about just how wrong that thought was. at which point I found that I had to replace that thought with another – call it a more slightly correct one. so I decided to quit my job and started listening to what at the time i sensed was the universe’s suggestive whisperings about what I needed to do. the more I listened the clearer it became what the universe was saying. I felt urged in the direction towards story telling. general story telling using as many mediums as I could master. in response to that call I started writing poetry in the late 1990’s, then moved on to writing short stories in 2003 – two of which have now been published in anthologies of short stories, and one which I self published.

my new found love for telling stories grew so much that I came to a point where I felt that text alone was no longer enough as a vehicle - the image started appealing to me. although it was to film that I was first drawn, photography had long lived at the back of my head as perhaps a more artistic way of capturing the image – (aside from drawing and painting of course). at the beginning of 2002 I made a point of learning as much about film as I could. a move which paid off because in 2004 I was given an opportunity through the out in africa film festival to make a short film (3min) called “muted screams’ – which has now been shown in south africa, the united kingdom, and in brasil.
in 2005 armed with the experience and confidence from that experience I made another short film (8min) based the self published short story called “jocasta’s hairballs”
at the beginning of 2005 I took up photography lessons and before the year was over, I had already had two exhibitions at the constitution hill, as part of the ansister collective – and exhibited a photographic essay called “this way we bleed” and a multimedia project following the “jocasta’s hair balls” theme.

about me as a photographer
my basic philosophy about photography, is that some things are best seen with one eye closed. i close my eye a lot of times to look at the way women interact with the world and what the world in turn does to them. I look to real life for inspiration, but enjoy rendering this inspiration to interpretations of my own. so although I have taken pictures of real life as it happens, I am much more fascinated by the process and the end result of what comes out from interpretation. this preference I think stems from my also being a writer and from that part of me that is constantly reshaping and reframing real life into stories.

Mandy Schreiber is a born and bred Capetonian. Her passion for capturing moments and people through a lens is based on her belief that REAL life is the most beautiful of art forms and that moments and reflection upon moments can instigate great change and encourage genuine understanding.

Ancient truth
As a guest in a foreign country one has to humbly accept that your perceptions are extremely subjective and cannot be randomly applied to the destination. On the flip side, however, travelling has revealed that there are some universal truths that are highlighted by observing and interacting with foreign cultures. People are intrinsically similar. We all seek the same truth, survival, comfort, transformation and transcendence.

Largely isolated from the rest of humanity, Madagascar is a sacred land struggling to identify with the new world. Known for its endemic natural beauty, I expected my camera to be clicking constantly at the natural wonders. However, it was the people that captured my imagination and spoke to the ancient truth within. The unfiltered eyes of children became my muse and my education. Our mutual intrigue created that wonderful human interaction which requires no language and no explanation.

The first world looks upon such peoples with pity. They sanctimoniously assemble aid that really aims to benefit them and ensure their rights to the natural gifts of the land. The people are forgotten, corrupted and enslaved to the distorted hype marketed as “happiness”.

The truth is that the first world is rapidly loosing its soul. And exhibiting the purity of these young Malagasy eyes will hopefully remind at least a few South Africans that we can determine our own future. We can evolve in a way that does not destroy the foundation of life and discard the ancient wisdom inherent in us all.

The number of street people in cape town has hit a un-bearing HIGH, but thats a guess because no one is counting any longer ,I have been taking some pictures of people sleeping in the city parks, sidewalks, trains, buses etc) Once I would`ve felt like a ghoul doing that, but i dont feel much of anything anymore. If you want to see or do anything in cape town, bring more than cash >>>>>the series of photos reflects nothing else but sleeping folk who they are i dont know . so if you want to take a walk around this town and check it out. Be my guest.
I take photo`s of my everyday sights(stuff) goedtis
A WORK IN PROGRESS.