ARAMINTA DE CLERMONT

ARAMINTA DE CLERMONT /// LIFE AFTER

This series is an exploration into the tattoos, and lives, of members of South Africa’s ‘Numbers’ prison gangs (the 26s, 27s & 28s) after having been released back into society, normally after many years, if not decades, of imprisonment.

Tattooing has always been forbidden in the South African prison system, with severe penalties, but the drive to create these marks is so strong that tattooing equipment will be created somehow.Pigment will come from grinding up rubbish bins, industrial rubber washers, batteries, or bricks. This will then be mixed with saliva, and will be pushed under the skin with nails pulled out of furniture, or sewing needles.

Tattoos may convey rankings within the hierarchy of the Number, may be testimonies to a crime committed, or may sometimes be a rather more personal statement: like a message of blame, threat, or regret, or a tribute to a loved one. A “Numbers” gangster can read another’s life story simply through the markings he has. The gallows symbol signifies that the bearer faced the death sentence, before it was outlawed. Many of the most highly tattooed men that I photographed, had been given the death sentence, before Mandela’s reprieve, and thus they had never believed they would be released, never imagining “a life after’.

Some prisoners will go as far as covering their whole body, including the face, with these 'chappies'. The motives behind such a drastic action fascinated me. Was it about a need to belong, or does it simply reflect an absolute immersion in “The Number”? Do the tattoos create an armour, or do they instead offer a voice, a potent form of self-expression, where the prisoners’ skin is perhaps their only remaining possession and form of self-expression?
And then there is perhaps the most pertinent question of all: how does someone live with such branding after their prison sentence ends? In jail, the men I photographed are considered to be “Kings”. Once freed, their tattoos stigmatize them as dangerous criminals, obscure their humanity and evoke fear in the general public. Unable to get jobs, many become homeless ‘strollers’, suffering high levels of substance abuse.
And so I found my subjects in Cape Town’s hidden places: homeless shelters, broken down tenement blocks, back alleys, soup kitchens, bus stations and township shebeens. I photographed them wherever them I found them, always in their own environments. As I worked, many questions were raised for me, especially regarding the choices we make in life and the prices we pay for them.

I also found myself wondering how it would be if we all had our past mistakes permanently emblazoned across our faces.


☁ ARAMINTA DE CLERMONT

KRISTY MITCHELL

KRISTY MITCHELL /// BIO-STATEMENT

"I was born in 1976 and raised in the English county of Kent, known to many as the 'Garden of England'. My earliest memories were always of the stories read to me by my mother as a child ... how it felt to be curled into her side, listening to the rush of her breath as she paused for effect, before launching into yet another characters voice. She was an English teacher, and read to me almost everyday, to an age I could no longer admit to my friends. She instilled in me the most precious gift a mother could, her imagination and a belief in beauty...... it became my root, and the place I constantly try to return to in my work, and my dreams.

Growing up, art became my sole passion. I studied until I was 25, taking courses in the history of art, photography, fine art, and then on to train in 'costume for film and theatre' at the London College of Fashion. Having graduated and worked for a short time in the industry, I decided to further my education, and returned to university, completing a first class degree with honours in fashion design, at Ravensbourne in the summer of 2001. During this time I also completed two internships at the design studios of Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan, both of whom have effected me greatly.

Since then I have worked full time as a fashion designer for a global designer brand, until in 2007 when personal illness brought a sudden change in myself, and led me to pick up a camera. I cannot explain how this happened, but a new, deep, and genuine need was born. I used to say I had never truly 'looked' until it was through a lens... life was different, more beautiful, more sad, and extreme in every sense of the word. People mattered, how they sat, how they slept, how they looked when they thought no one else cared. I fell in love with the faces of strangers, and photography gave me a new purpose...... that is, until March 2008.

Tragically my mother was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and my world fell apart. Photography became my only escape when I could no longer talk about how I felt. I lost myself in street portraiture, focusing on those who reflected my own sadness and loss. I later turned the camera inwards, and began photographing myself throughout the hardest year of my life. It became an utter fantasy that blocked out the real world, and a place where I could return to my memories of her, far away from those hospitals walls.

She died in November 2008 and that was when photography engulfed me, becoming an overwhelming passion that I couldn't stop. I found myself producing pieces that echoed the memories of her stories, and the belief in wonder I have always felt since a child. By combining my various backgrounds, I now create images where everything has been designed and produced by myself, and a small team. The costumes, the props, the sets and accessories, are all part of the process that is finally recorded in the finished product of the photograph. It is driven by the need to produce tangible pieces of my dreams, and make it possible to step into the scenes for real. This physical creation is my favourite part, and has taken me to places I would have otherwise never known. I have walked on snow covered in flowers, stood in lakes at sunset, painted trees, set fire to chairs, made smoking umbrellas, and giant wigs from stolen flowers. I have laughed, been overwhelmed, and left in awe of all the things I had previously passed unnoticed until now ...

Life has become a different place, 'a second chance' is maybe the only way to describe it, and for that I am so grateful. I have had my eyes opened, and no matter how sad the origin of it all was..... I will always cherish the fact this small and precious awakening has happened..."


☁ KRISTY MITCHELL

BROOKE SHADEN

Here are some new wonderful dreamy and creative pictures by BROOKE SHADEN. She has a lot more new ones on her sites. Totally worth a visit!

☁ BROOKE SHADEN
☁ BROOKE SHADEN'S FLICKR
☁ BROOKE SHADEN PREVIOUSLY ON LE ZÈBRE

ISAAC CORDAL

ISAAC CORDAL /// CEMENT ECLIPSES


"Strategically placed in London and other cities, Isaac Cordal's tiny figurines explore the nature of modern urban solitude.

(...) Since 2006, Isaac Cordal has been placing minuscule cement pieces on streets, sidewalks, walls and other corners of cities across Europe, exploring "the voluntary isolation of human beings" from nature. Cement Eclipses is a beautiful new 256-page anthology of images from the project, many never-before-seen, offering a thoughtful look at his tiny-big gifts to the public and inviting an exploration of their meaning in a sociocultural context.

"Cement eclipses is a research project of urban space that runs between the fields of sculpture and photography. The sculpture is used as a starting point and photography as a witness to the execution of installations for later viewing or exhibition." Isaac Cordal

Vulnerable and expressive, the vignettes in Cement Eclipses are as much a conversation about solitude as they are an invitation to examine our role as citizens and fellow human beings in a shared urban reality. "(Maria Popova for the Atlantic)


☁ ISAAC CORDAL
☁ ISAAC CORDAL'S FLICKR

SEUNGYEA PARK

SEUNGYEA PARK
Born in Seoul, Korea.

EDUCATION
BFA at Southampton Longisland Univ, NY.
MA at C.W.Post Longisland University, NY.

Lives and works in Seoul.


☁ SEUNGYEA PARK

MICHAEL REEDY

Amazing works by MICHAEL REEDY.

☁ MICHAEL REEDY