Memorable Moments in South Africa

Well, I am finally doing something serious about my blog while I am here in South Africa. Its been a busy time while I've been here and so please forgive my tardiness! I have had some internet issues too, but enough of the excuses.

Why am I here? Well, I was invited to be a part of Memorable Moments South Africa 2010, a project that required the presence of a group of photographers and bloggers from different countries to capture all of the atmosphere surrounding the events that are happening in South Africa as we speak. I would mention them by name but Kodak have suggested that we refrain due to potential legal issues. You see, they are not an official sponsor. But you know the events of which I write.

Its a wonderful honour to be here for Kodak Australia. Unlike the other representatives, I was apparently chosen to be here without having to enter a competition to do so. I was simply told by the two lovely ladies at Kodak with whom I deal that they knew who they wanted to come and be part of this project. Wow. Thank you both.

I don't want to bore you with the details of each day's events but rather speak of the project itself. As I have mentioned, its about the creation and enjoyment of 'memorable moments' and Kodak's long term connection with that idea. We are all familiar with George Eastman's original slogan, "You take the pictures, we do the rest", a slogan that kept Kodak alive for over a century, at least in terms of its basic philosophy. So, we have simply been taking photographs with the Kodak Slice and our own DSLR cameras and capturing video with the Kodak Playsport. With everything going on in this country at the moment it is easy to take some wonderful photographs and capture memorable footage. If you have not seen the Kodak Playsport at work, you should really have a look at this fabulous little piece of hardware. I love mine. We have used its predecessor, the Zi8, to make videos of our workshops that have been such an asset to our Creative Photo Workshops website and indeed, our business.

As I write this, I am sitting in my hotel room with fellow photographers Teymur Madjderey and Shem Compion, as well as Madlen Niclaus from Kodak in London. We are chomping on some rather ordinary pizza and doing what we are here to do - report on the atmosphere surrounding the events here and use our photographs on the internet to promote the notion of Memorable Moments. So, we are Facebooking, Flickring, Tweeting and blogging about the events thus far. We have each been asked to submit for Kodak's 1000 Word blog also, and I have already submitted my entry. I awoke early one morning with an editorial epiphany and just had to write it down over a coffee...or two. Look out for it at the blog...

South Africa is a lively place at the moment, as you can imagine. There is a buzz here that is, I would hazard a guess, a different atmosphere to what this country has known in decades past. Being here at this time is a wonderful experience. There are thousands of visitors from so many countries and the South Africans have gone all out to make us all feel so welcome. I flew on a plane from Johannesburg to Durban that was filled to the brim with Germans and Australians. They all would have turned up at the game that evening having been made very welcome. Even the friendly competition that arises between the 'representatives' of each nation is worth experiencing. It is a friendly rivalry that rarely means more than just a chance to jibe and to be proud. South Africa is is indeed a country that has seen some serious interracial healing, and it is now on display for the world. Its willingness to hold these events at such great cost is perhaps a reminder to the world that it is no longer caught in the anachronism that was Apartheid. It is a beautiful country, and one can only hope that conditions here will improve to balance the economy between the classes.

The images in this blog entry are from the various events Kodak has taken us to and involved us in over the last few days. Because our brief is to capture the atmosphere of this country at this time, we are quite free to photograph it as we see fit. Therefore, whatever we encounter is up to us to choose to capture. How we do it, if we do it, is our decision. All Kodak want is to have a selection of images and videos that capture the memorable moments that we have had, and that this country is also experiencing. For mine, I must admit, I am more than happy to oblige.