Photographer:Andre du Plessis

From Plettenberg Bay, South Africa / London, United Kingdom

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His Life is in his Eyes

Thomas Hugo: 6 months later....
I managed to track Thomas down in Paris over the weekend. I searched the Left Bank (his patch) for a day, to no avail, and then approached waiters and shop keepers, showing them a small picture of him on my PDA. A dear chap by the name of Sami, who serves ice cream, eventually came to my rescue....
Thomas now lives in a small tent on the paved section in the middle of Rue Flandres in Crimee, which is in north-east Paris. Awful location that he picked, as traffic passes very close by on either side of the tent, and pedestrians sometimes have to walk around his tent and scattered belongings. However, although he would have preferred a quieter location, he feels safe here as he is visible to the locals and there is constant movement, especially as there is a Monoprix immediately opposite. He has made enemies in the Left Bank, as some other persons living his type of life apparently became jealous of the fact that he managed to obtain a mobile phone and number, and recently....wait for it....an used Nikon D80 with a broken lens. He is now shooting pics of passers-by, and of his animals, which are now down to two dogs (both overweight), and a cat. He showed me the lens - some part inside has come loose, and partially obscures the image. So now he has to shake his camera and every 20th or so pics works.
His dog that featured in my previous upload of Thomas was stolen. He thinks that he knows who did it, however, is too terrified to approach that person or area. There is a floral shop across the street which he uses as his postal address. They also keep his camera when he's not using it. The same people who forced him from the Left Bank also cut the tires of his bicycle contraption that I referred to in the previous upload of Thomas. He is planning to have that fixed very soon.
I think that I have now forged a trusting relationship with Thomas, and shall continue to pay visits to him every time I travel that wonderful city. I do not know how Thomas survives financially, as he never begs. I suspect that he receives hand-outs from the council. I spent a few hours with Thomas, chatting mainly about photography, teaching him a few things with the camera, and watching him run up and down the street in an attempt to get his dogs back to the tent, as they constantly wander off. I managed to do some shots as well, however, difficult, as you feel that you are in a fish bowl, with everyone staring at you... He, however, displayed no sign of unease shooting away at me from all angles.
I showed him a PDF print-out of all the comments from members etc, and he was very taken by this. The prints I gave him were immediately cut to size (with a very blunt scissors), and pasted into his album that materialised from somewhere beneath the sleeping bag.

Photographer:Andre du Plessis

From Plettenberg Bay, South Africa / London, United Kingdom

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Women of Johnson's Post

Photographer:Andre du Plessis

From Plettenberg Bay, South Africa / London, United Kingdom

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R E S I G N A T I O N

Photographer:Andre du Plessis

From Plettenberg Bay, South Africa / London, United Kingdom

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Togetherness

Photographer:Andre du Plessis

From Plettenberg Bay, South Africa / London, United Kingdom

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Father & Son

This is another low light photograph of the Kannemeyer family, who live in a small house on a farm at Johnson's Post in South Africa, where Abraham is employed as a labourer.
I have reason to be very thankful to Fanie, his son standing in this photograph, as it was primarily due to him that I started doing this type of work.
It was Fanie who interrupted me whilst setting up for a landscape in a field last January, sent by his father to enquire the reason for my tresspassing onto private farm land.
That day I walked back to their house with him to appease his dad, and ended up taking pictures of the family in their house - something I had never done before.
I have been back there whenever I am in the area, recording more of this family and their friends, and contributing prints to their family album.
Largely due to my experience with this family, have I since become comfortable to walk up to a cottage or shack along the motorway, befriend the occupants, and photograph them. However, these things are still so much easier in Africa, where being photographed is still a novelty for many.
So I am very pleased to share another Kannemeyer image, as they have had such an big influence on the direction I am going with my pictures.

June 2009: The landscape that I was doing managed to get published as well. Page to 'Where My Journey Started'
Thanks.

Photographer:Andre du Plessis

From Plettenberg Bay, South Africa / London, United Kingdom

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On Stage at Home: Young Visions

Low light + Uprated ISO

Photographer:Andre du Plessis

From Plettenberg Bay, South Africa / London, United Kingdom

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Sonja & Nellie

Photographer:Andre du Plessis

From Plettenberg Bay, South Africa / London, United Kingdom

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Old Man Walking

Photographer:Andre du Plessis

From Plettenberg Bay, South Africa / London, United Kingdom

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Maria & Celeste: Kannemeyers

Whenever I visit my friend and mentor, James Roelofse, at his holiday house at Gourits River Mouth along the Southern Cape coast of South Africa, I always stop over at this little cottage next to the road. Here the Kannemeyers live, and I really hope to get more photos of this family on 1X to share with you.
I met them in January 2008 when I was trying to capture a landscape in some fields. I had to scale 2 fences to get to my spot. Dad Kannemeyer, who oversees the land on this farm belonging to the Johnson family, sent out his son Fanie to enquire about my trespassing, and that lead me to meet the Kannemeyers.
I have now been back there four times - each time taking pictures of who happens to be there or is visiting at the time, and handing them the prints from the previous visit.
They live in a very small house with only one outside door, and two rooms in total. Most of my pictures were taken in the room with the door, where I utilised the available light with the assistance of a tripod.
This image is of Maria, the lady of the house, and Celeste, her daughter, who is living with some other family members elsewhere, where she has access to a school close by. For those of you who might wonder about Maria's left eye - she suffered an injury to this eye many years ago.
I have slotted this under documentary, however, I shall appreciate advice on whether it belongs in this category, as a lot of my work is of similar nature.[亚瑟李 编辑于 2010-02-06 09:18]

Photographer:Andre du Plessis  From Plettenberg Bay, South Africa / London, United Kingdom

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Rue des Rosiers

This is the steet of flowers, in the Marais district of Paris, and which today symbolises the Jewish community in this city. When they where expelled from Paris over 600 years ago, this is where they settled, which was at that time outside the boundary of Paris.
The area has become very diverse now, through immigration from North Africa and Eastern Europe.
Some sections of Marais are very pleasant to stroll through, with trendy shops and cutting edge designs peering out of these medieval looking shopfronts.
I needed to get this lady with her buggy in front of one of the pillars to avoid her losing impact against the backdrop, and was lucky on my second attempt, as I waited for her to walk back from the grocery store.

外轮理货员

业余生活

劳作.

劳作

吸啖烟.

吸啖烟

鱼贩他爹

工人

工人特写

MM

流浪者

人眼拍不出瞳孔来就拍微距猫眼

TOTAL:28  THE END 谢收看.

周末愉快各位~~

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William Kroll Banjo and Fiddle Leonidas Kavakos

http://mp3.bimg.126.net/mu_l/fp2yibL36F_q0E6goAil3A==/68679894317419853.mp3

Golden Age - 028

Golden Age - 027

Golden Age - 026

Golden Age - 025

Golden Age - 024

Golden Age - 023

Golden Age - 022