Cold Weather, Astonishing Sky

10 June 2012

The winter’s first cold front took hold of Joburg this weekend. The sky is bright and clear and a constant, bone-chilling wind is blowing. The current temperature, at 11:39 a.m., is 7° C (45° F). The predicted low tonight is 0° C.

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Sunset From the Top of Africa

12 April 2012

The top floor of the Carlton Centre, officially named the Top of Africa, is one of the most underrated attractions in this highly underrated city. Sure, the observation deck is run-down and the windows are smudged. (In fact, smudged is an understatement. Try filthy.) Sure, this part of downtown is a little sketchy. But this is the tallest building in Africa. It costs R15 (about $2) to take the elevator to the top. The view is phenomenal, unlike any other on this continent.

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An Ode to Melville

04 April 2012

I meet a lot of people around Jozi these days.

When I meet a new person, the first question he/she normally asks is, “What brought you to Joburg?” I dread this question because it takes so long for me to answer.

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High and Low

06 January 2012

I shot some photos in the garden the other day. All were snapped within a 10-foot radius of each other, although I shot half while looking down and the other half while looking up. The ‘down’ shots were taken in the middle of the afternoon and the ‘up’ shots were taken at sunset.

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Sunrise, Sunset

13 March 2011

I’m melancholy. Bad things are happening everywhere and I feel overwhelmed by life. But it’s nice to know that no matter what, the sun keeps rising and setting.

One of the advantages to my current 9-5 schedule is that I’m sometimes awake early enough to see the sunrise. I caught this one last week in our backyard. Even those ugly industrial buildings (I think they’re part of Johannesburg Hospital) look beautiful at that time of day.
Two nights ago, Joe and I looked outside and everything was bathed in a crazy pink-orange glow. The light lasted for about a minute; then it was dark. Joe had just enough time to shoot this frame looking up at our aloe tree.
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