On Saturday I went on an “Instawalk” with a bunch of Joburg Instagram photographers. Their informal leader, @roywrench, invited me to submit my best Jozi Instagram pics for an exhibition being organized as part of the I ART JOBURG project in Maboneng.
I’ve been struggling for weeks to get a good shot of the Maboneng sign on Kruger St. I finally figured out that I needed to shoot it from behind.
Last night, I stood in a rad exhibition space called AREA3, face-to-face with my own Instagram and several dozen other mobile images. Rows and rows of beautiful paper squares, each square telling a unique Jozi story.
An Instagram of my Instagram. That’s the @2summers shot of the Ansteys Building, bottom-center.
Another perspective.
I went back to the exhibition this morning with a friend who wasn’t able to make it last night. I took a couple more Instagrams of the Instagrams.
Reflections on Jozi Instagrams.
I loved this exhibition. I loved looking at each image individually, and at all the images together. I loved meeting the Instagram photographers whose work I’ve been admiring on my iPad for the last several weeks. (Thanks to Andile for introducing me around.) I loved that I was part of it all.
The guy standing on the left is my new Instagram friend @btherad.
Accomplished Instagrammer @garethpon takes an Instagram of an Instagram.
This is the only shot I got of @unclescrooch, another legendary Joburg Instagrammer. His photos of the Jozi sky are breathtaking. That’s the back of @unclescrooch’s head. Sorry @unclescrooch, not my best work.
And the very best part of the evening: Someone bought my print. My first exhibition photo sale ever. (Remember how I said I didn’t care if my photo got sold or not? I totally lied.)
Hewny, whoever you are: Thank you.
My only regret is that I did not take an Instagram self-portrait of myself at the exhibition. That was dumb. I will remember next time.
Thanks to @roywrench and everyone else who helped put this exhibition together in record time. It was a fantastic evening. And for those of you who didn’t make it last night, the exhibition will be up through December 5. Go check it out. There are lots of great photos for sale and they make lovely Christmas presents.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.