Wisdom for the New Year from Women

 

With the start of the new year comes that time-honoured tradition - New Year's resolutions, when we are strong in our resolve to make the new year better, more successful, more exciting. In wishing you an abundant 2013, I would like to share some inspiring words of wisdom from women who ruled Hollywood once upon a time.

"To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labour, to be given a chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life.  The money is the gravy" - Bette Davis

"The river is constantly turning and bending and you never know where it's going to go and where you'll wind up. Following the bend in the river and staying on your own path means that you are on the right track.  Don't let anyone deter you from that" - Eartha Kitt

"I decided, very early on, just to accept life unconditionally; I never expected it to do anything special for me, yet I seemed to accomplish far more than I had ever hoped.  Most of the time it just happened to me without my ever seeking it." - Audrey Hepburn 

"I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be prooud of that." -Lauren Bacall

"After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery.  Its better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe.  Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life." - Sophia Loren

 

 

Best wishes - may 2013 be your best year yet!

Doreen Pfeiffer 

 

 

Do you have a best friend?

Best friends forever? if you have a very close bond with one friend, you are very lucky, according to researchers.

Here is why a very close friendship bond (not just a few "good friends") is so good for you ....

Experts from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre says it may not be so great for your health to just have just lots of close girlfriends.

According to their research, people who have a true "best friend" have lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in their bodies. Too  many stress hormones can make us feel unhappy and can also contribute to disease.

"One of the interesting things about these findings is that it's not just any friend, it's the best friend" - said the study's lead author.  Though the study looked at children, experts believe there could be some applications to adults, too.

Johnny Depp .... aaahhhh ..

Some Hollywood careers are built on smart choices.  Last year Johnny Depp earned $75 million - a wealth and fame he achieved by making some unusual choices in his career.

Born John Christopher Depp II on June 9, 1963 - he is an American actor, producer and musician.  

 

He gained fame at a young age and refused to take the obvious path.  After the TV show 21 Jump Street, he chose to work with offbeat directors like Tim Burton and John Waters, rather than become an action star. 

Johnny turned to more challenging roles such as the title character of Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

His insistence on making each role his own paid off with 2003's Pirates of the Caribbean when Depp created Captain Jack Sparrow's character to become as important to Disney as Peter Pan.  

Depp has been nominated for top awards many times, winning the Best Actor Awards from the Golden Globes for Sweeney Todd and from the Screen Actors Guild for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

He has been twice named as the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine in 2003 and 2009.  Depp has been listed in the 2012 Guinness Book of World Records as the highest paid actor, with $75 million. 

We just love having him in the gallery at all times!

A little bit about Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon's fashion and portrait photographs "helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last fifty years" - this according to an obituary published in The New York Times.

Avedon was always interested in how portraiture captures the personality and soul of its subject.  As his reputation as a photographer grew, he photographed many celebrities and politicians in his studio - Elizabeth Taylor, Buster Keaton, Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy and Andy Warhol, to name but a few.

His portraits are easily distinguished by their minimalist style, often the person is looking squarely in the camera, posed in front of a sheer white background. 

He would often bring up uncomfortable areas of discussion or ask psychologically probing questions, to evoke a reaction.  Through this technique he would produce images that revealed aspects of his subject's character and personality that were not typically captured by others.

Wenda Parkinson in Hyde Park in 1951

Henri Cartier-Bresson - the Godfather of Street photography

One of my favorite photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson is of this little boy carrying two bottles of wine under his arms, on Rue Mouffetard with the triumphant grin of a champion.  Henri Cartier-Bresson was a master at taking photos of children in their natural playful state, creating images that convey beautiful nostalgia to his viewers.

Children are great subjects to shoot when it comes to street photography - in that they don’t mind being in front of the camera, and often ignore it. Therefore you are able to capture their true essence: playful, curious, and often mischievous.

When Henri Cartier-Bresson would talk about “The Decisive Moment” he said sometimes it would be spontaneous but others times he had to be patient and wait for it. Regardless he was very methodological when he would go out and shoot, and would only keep his images if every element of his image (people, background, framing, and composition) were perfect.

When he shot on the streets, he would stay as low-key and unobtrusive as possible. It is reported that he would cover his chrome Leica in black tape and  sometimes with a hankerchief to make it less noticeable when he was out shooting.  Most of the images that he captured his subjects were oblivious of the camera, therefore truly candid.

Although Cartier-Bresson shot with several different lenses while on-assignment working for Magnum, he would only shoot with a 50mm if he was shooting for himself. By being faithful to that lens for decades, the camera truly became “an extension of his eye”.

Waiting for the bus.

We got the mother and the kids
We got the guy and his date
We all get mad
We all get late
Looks like somebody forgot about us
Standin on the corner
Waitin' for a bus
Say hey mister driver man
Don't be slow
Cause I got somewhere I gotta go
Say hey mister driver man
Drive that thing fast
My precious time keep slippin' past
Lets call the mayor lets complain
Looks like the city's done to us again
Tied up in traffic what'ya know
The damn city bus moves so slow
I said hey mister driver now man
Don't be slow
Cause I got somewhere I gotta go
Said hey mister driver man
Drive that thing fast
My precious time keep slippin' past 

Lyrics for Waiting for the Bus by Violent Femmes

"The Bus Will Come" image taken in Paris by Eric Miyeni

Available from the Cow Artworks

Wedding Bells - Aretha Franklin is engaged

The Grammy-award winning singer Aretha Franklin - aged 69 - stated that she is not pregnant - but is engaged to her long-time companion William "Willie" Wilkerson.  They are considering a summer wedding  perhaps in Miami Beach, Florida, on a private yacht.

Last year she lost 85 lbs and now she is gaining a husband.  It will be the third wedding for Franklin, who has four children. 

Aretha Franklin is one of the giants of soul music,  with hits such as 'Chain of Fools', 'Respect',  'I never loved a man' and ' Say a Little Prayer'.

In 1987 she became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008 she was personally asked to perform by the then newly elected president, Barack Obama, at his inauguration.

Photograph by Alf Kumalo

taken at the Apollo Theatre, New York, 1971

available from The Cow Artworks

David Epstein - Fine Art Photographer

Award winning photographer, David Epstein's medium of choice is black and white fine art photography.  Based in Johannesburg - South Africa - he has had the opportunity to capture images from all over the world, though the bulk of his work is South African based.

"Surfing the Wasteland" 

Epstein cannot be pigeonholed in terms of his visual preference, this provides difficulty when trying to categorize him - he is a landscape photographer, a still life photographer, a nude photographer and ultimately an interpretive photographer.

"Stairway to Heaven"

In his own words, Epstein describes himself as a natural photographer with the ability to capture a moment-in-time, in the words of others - his work conveys a sense of solitude ... loneliness ... introspection.  Ultimately, it's for you to make your own visual and emotional interpretation. 

"Clacton on Sea"

David Epstein's images are available from The Cow Artworks, in Parkhurst South Africa. 

 

Rockefeller Centre Christmas Tree

The first time a tree was put up in Rockefeller Centre was in 1931.  The depression-era workmen building the centre were so happy to have jobs that they decorated a tree with strings of cranberries, paper garlands and a few tin cans.  Thereafter the first official Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree went up in 1933.

A 250 kg Swarovski star is made of 25,000 crystals, estimated to be worth $1,5 million. 720 LED bulbs and 3,000 feet of wire is used.

Rockefeller Centre conducts aerial searches by helicopter every year to find the perfect seven story tree.  It needs to be dense enough to host all the decorations and short enough to fit under the bridges as it is shipped to the city.  It is always sneaked in at night, when the streets are quiet.

The tree keeps on giving after Christmas - in 1971 its branches were ground into 30 large bags of mulch, which were spread over upper Manhattan nature trails.  In 2005, Habitat for Humanity used the heartwood to make door frames for houses for the needy and last year, 15% of the tree went into making paper for a book called The Carpenter's Gift - a book about people helping once another - and the proceeds go to charity.  

I hope you all enjoy your Christmas trees and and have a peaceful festive season.

Doreen Pfeiffer

The Cow Artworks

Frank Sinatra

I have always had a soft spot for Frank Sinatra.  Some people say he diluted "true jazz" and turned it into musical pop candy, there is something to be said for his incredible talent and charisma, which broadened the audience for music in a way very few artists have single-handedly managed in the history of contemporary music.

Known by many names - Frankie, Francis, Ol' Blue Eyes, The Chairman of the Board, the Voice - he was often revered as being the most popular and enduring singer of the 20th century - borrowing from jazz, swing, pop, big band and more to create a style that was distinctly his own.

I would like to be remembered as a man who brought an innovation to popular singing,  I would like to be remembered as a man who had a wonderful time living his life, and who had good friends, fine family, and I don't think I could ask for anything more than that, actually." - Frank Sinatra

Born December 12, 1915 in New Jersey he was the only child of Italian immigrants and was raised Roman Catholic.  He left high school without graduating having attended only 47  days before being expelled because of his rowdy conduct.  

In 1938, Sinatra was arrested for carrying on with a married woman, a criminal offence at the time.  For his livelihood he worked as a delivery boy at the Jersey Observer newspaper and later as a riveter at a shipyard.  But music was his main interest and he carefully listened to big band jazz.  

He began singing for tips at the eight of eight, standing on top of the bar of a local nightclub in Hoboken, New Jersey and began singing professionally as a teenager in the 1930's, although he learned music by ear and never learned how to read music.

Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early 1940's, released his first album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra in 1946.  In 1954 he won the Academy award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity.

He was a founding member of the Rat Pack and fraternized with celebrities and statesmen. Sinatra also forged a successful career as a film actor - a nomination for Best Actor for The Man with the Golden Arm, and critical acclaim for his performance in The Mancurian Candidate, Oceans Eleven. He also starred in musicals - High Society, Guys and Dolls and On the Town.

He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Regan in 1985.

Sinatra was the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards.

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie, one of the ultimate symbols of the Cold War, epitomized the separation between east and west for nearly thirty years.

Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 by the East German government.  This checkpoint represented not only a divided Germany but a world in political turmoil. After the wall was built, President John F Kennedy ordered the U.S. forces to build three checkpoints at different points in the wall - through which diplomatic corps and allied fores could enter West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie became the most famous having gotten its name from the American alphabet.  The others were Alpha and Brava..

By 1962 this checkpoint was the only place at which foreigners visiting Berlin could cross from West to East and back again.   Located in the heart of Berlin, the checkpoint was the subject of many movies and appeared frequently in spy novels written during the Cold War era.

Checkpoint Charlie - photographed by Roger Bull

Checkpoint Charlie was removed in June 1990 when German reunification was almost complete.

Today a line of bricks traces the path where the Berlin Wall once stood and visitors will find a replica of the Checkpoint Charlie booth and sign at the original site.

The original booth is in the Allied Museum in Zehlendorf.

Using light as your subject

Using light as your subject and not just as a photographic tool is perfectly demonstrated in this photograph of sunlight streaming into New York's Grand Central Station as commuters make their way across the concourse.

Light is something you see everywhere and anywhere - in the mornings when you wake up or walking in a gallery or museum or just working somewhere.  Everything that the light is hitting here is being lit up.  You dont always have to think of your subject as being lit.

Sometimes the light itself can be the subject.  If you look at the people in the photograph - none of them are doing much at all - they are just acting in the background.  It is all about the light.

The Grand Station - by Tate Husband 

(Image available from The Cow Artworks)

Michael Doran

Michael Doran is one of South Africa's most affluent stills photographers, having travelled the world shooting for various clients.  From Morocco to New York, he has shot countless advertising campaigns.

He trained and worked as a photographer in Europe, before returning to South Africa.  His talent has also won him awards around the world.  His career has taken him from working internationally in London, Paris, Italy and New York, winning international recognition at The New York festivals and the London advertising awards.  

His photographic eye has been in demand for 19 years and has captured many exquisite panoramas.

With an extraordinary eye for detail and a strong desire to discover the beauty of any situation, Michael tackles each project in a unique and personalized manner, from finding the smallest detail and moment to set to tweaking the grade to perfection in post production.

Michael has photographed, written and published a photographic art book entitled "Impressions of an Artist", which was accepted by the Louvre in Paris for exhibition.

Michael Doran's images are available from The Cow Artworks in Parkhurst.

A Letter from Paris

"A Letter from Paris" is Eric Miyeni's first foray into the world of photography as a professional.  He is a self-taught photographer who picked up the camera more than 20 years ago and went on about learning the craft, photographing friends, family and anything he found interesting until 2008, when he went to Paris and got inspired to produce "A Letter from Paris", a book that Miyeni calls "a stillsfilm-word documentary on the city of Paris".

Miyeni was born in Soweto in South Africa in 1966.  He attained a Bachelor of Arts (Law) degree from the University of Kwa Zulu Natal in 1987.  Choosing not to enter the legal profession, Miyeni entered the creative world of communications by working as a copywriter for the then award-winning advertising agency D'arcy Massius Benton and Bowles.

His professional passion, communications, has seen his career  span the world of radio as a talk show host on SAfm, television - Molo Fish - actor and film (Cry The beloved Country).  He wrote O'Mandingo! The only Black at a Dinner Party and the stage play - Twisted and Vile in which he acted and directed.

Eric's images from Paris are exclusively available from The Cow Artworks in Parkhurst.

Alf Kumalo - photo journalist

Alfred Dukuza Mangaliso Kumalo was born on September 5th 1930. At an early age, he developed an interest in drawing which would later lead him to become a photographer with a highly discerning eye. Kumalo started photography as a way of freezing moments in time for visuals he wanted to draw and then, “I was gripped by the drama of the visual impact of photography,” he says of his visual stray into the world of photography from drawing. In 1951 as a freelancer for Bantu World, he began some serious photography and has never looked back. Amongst the publications that have benefited from his work are: Drum, Rand Daily Mail, Golden City Post, The Star, New York Times, Newsweek and Time Magazines.

Background Politically, Kumalo witnessed through the lenses of the camera such milestones as the Women’s March in 1956 led by Lillian Ngoyi and Helen Joseph; the Treason and Rivonia trial which featured some of South Africa’s highly-known political activists such as Mandela, Sisulu and Govan Mbeki; Sharpeville massacre; Soweto uprisings; the banning of Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Mandela and younger leaders such as Steven Biko, Mamphele Ramphele; the first inauguration in 1994,and the ten years of democracy celebration. Kumalo documented and owns exclusive photographs of Nosekeni Mandela, the mother of South Africa’s most famous prisoner, who died in 1965, a year after the sentencing of her son to life imprisonment. He also covered former President Thabo Mbeki from the early seventies in Swaziland, Mozambique and other countries. Other political figures that Kumalo has photographed include Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe, Robert Resha, Barney Pityana, Chris Hani, Robert and Edward Kennedy, Helen Joseph, Hendrick Verwoerd, Pik and Pieter Botha, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Coretta Scott-King and Frederick de Klerk.

Over the decades Kumalo has had the opportunity to document national and international artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn, Count Bassie, Sammy Davies jnr, Miles Davis, Miriam Makeba, Dolly Rathebe, Dorothy Masuku, Thandi Klaasen, Sibongile Khumalo, PJ Powers, Johnny Clegg, Murray Campbell, Louis Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan, & Frank Sinatra. In sports, Kumalo has covered international and local legends including Pele, Eusebio, Stan and Jomo Sono, Kaizer Motaung, Muhammed Ali, Enoch Nhlapo, and ‘Baby Jake’ Matlala among others.

Awards From the 50s, Kumalo started winning awards for his work. Encyclopedia Britannica and World Press are just some of the publications that have conferred awards on him. His most memorable award was the one he won in 1963 when he won a car and a caravan in a competition that had 1,900 contestants. It was particularly memorable because, after winning several awards, he had begun doubting his own talent and entered the competition using his African name and he won. In recent years, he has won the Millennium Award Picture, bestowed with South Africa’s Order of Ikhamanga (Silver), the Vodacom Life Achievement Award and the Nat Nakasa Award.

Exhibitions Kumalo has had several exhibitions nationally and internationally. Some of his work has been exhibited in the U.S.A., particularly at the United Nations and Europe where the Western world got a sample of one of South African photography’s living legends. He also exhibited in Ethiopia, Kenya, Russia, The Middle East, Rome and several times in London.

Alf Kumalo's images are available for sale at the gallery - The Cow Artworks in Parkhurst.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Fifty years ago, Breakfast at Tiffany's made its debut.  This iconic film went on to become one of the most romantic and beloved comedies of all time. 

Holly Golightly remained the most memorable role of Audrey Hepburn.

No one has managed to capture Hepburn's character, charisma and enigma with more visual eloquence than Bob Willoughby, who met her shortly afer she arrived in Hollywood in 1953.  He was mesmerized by her personality and continued to shoot her for more than ten years.

Willoughby wrote : "I really didn't know what to make of Audrey when I first saw her.  She certainly was not the typical image of a young starlet, for that was what I had been sent to photograph.  I watched her across the room and she did have something ... but I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I was finally introduced to her.  Then that radian smile hit me right between the eyes, warming me inside like a shot of whisky.  She exuded some magic warmth that was hers alone."

Photography invented over 150 years ago

Photography is one of the major art forms of our time. Invented over 150 years ago, and continually evolving, photography has become the favourite medium for both communication and aesthetic expression. 


Photographers have produced beautiful and important images that not only give us pleasure but also play an important role in helping us see and interpret the world.


Today, the photography market is strong and stable, primed for major growth in the future and filled with many opportunities for both the seasoned and new collector.


And The Cow Artworks is ready and waiting ....