joburg photowalkers

All posts tagged joburg photowalkers

Braai Day Photowalk in Kensington

Posted by 2summers on September 26, 2012
Posted in: Arts, Culture and Sports, Instagram, Johannesburg, South Africa, Walking Tours. Tagged: , , , , . 18 comments

After my last post, the Joburg Expat informed me that Heritage Day in South Africa is also “National Braai Day”. I can’t believe I didn’t make this connection sooner, as this is my third Heritage Day in South Africa.  Anyway, I like this concept; it reminds me of Memorial Day back home. (Dear Americans: Braai means barbeque in South Africa.)

I (unknowingly) celebrated Braai Day on a walkabout through the historic neighborhood of Kensington with the Joburg Photowalkers. I’ve done many photowalks over the last couple of years (browse my photowalk posts here), but haven’t participated in one for a while. It was great to hang out with the old gang, meet some new photowalkers, and cruise the streets of a lovely Jozi neighborhood. Continue Reading

Sundowners, Photos, and 360 Degrees of Jozi

Posted by 2summers on June 4, 2012
Posted in: Johannesburg, South Africa. Tagged: , , , , , . 19 comments

I’ve been in Jozi for nearly two years, during which time I’ve photographed the city skyline from countless different perspectives. (See some examples here, here, and here.) I’m afraid the 2Summers audience may start to tire of my Jozi skyline posts.

I’ll hope you’ll hang in there for one more though. This weekend I was lucky enough to take photos from another spectacular vantage point.

The 24th floor of the Parktonian Hotel, on the border of Braamfontein and Parktown. Continue Reading

I Box

Posted by 2summers on March 20, 2012
Posted in: Boxing, Emotions and Grief, Johannesburg, Johannesburg City Centre, South Africa. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 20 comments

Part 1 of a 2-part (or maybe 3-part) series on why I love boxing. Read Part 2. Also, watch a short video about George’s gym.

I’ve been meaning to write about boxing since I started this blog. Boxing has played a huge role in my life over the past two years and I’ve been waiting for just the right time to talk about it. Now, I’ve left it too long. I have too much to say about boxing to fit into a single post.

I’ll start at the beginning.

Continue Reading

Another Stunning View of Jozi

Posted by 2summers on March 18, 2012
Posted in: Johannesburg, Johannesburg City Centre, South Africa, Walking Tours. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 28 comments

I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record. But this city has an unbelievable number of striking vantage points. Yesterday I visited another one and I think it was the best view I’ve seen yet.

I was on a drive around town with a few members of the Joburg Photowalkers. This wasn’t a photowalk; it was a scouting expedition for a photowalk planned for later this week. I’ll explain about that in a future post. But for the purposes of this post, all you need to know is that we drove to the top of a big hill in Yeoville yesterday and parked on Highlands St., across from an apartment block called Westminister Mansions. We got out of the car and saw this: Continue Reading

Ice Cream and Art Deco in the African ‘Burbs

Posted by 2summers on February 5, 2012
Posted in: Arts, Culture and Sports, Johannesburg, Johannesburg Day Trips, Johannesburg Outer Suburbs, South Africa, Walking Tours. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 39 comments

Yesterday I joined the Joburg Photowalkers on an architectural tour of two towns on the outskirts of Johannesburg: Benoni and Springs.

Benoni and Springs — east of Joburg in an area called ‘the East Rand’ — are to Joburg what Frederick and Manassas are to Washington D.C., or what Hackensack is to New York City. They are small towns outside of big towns — places where people tend to live out of necessity, convenience, or habit, rather than for the culture or nightlife. In America we call these towns the outer suburbs, or more simply, the ‘burbs.

Due to the influx of gold-mining money in the East Rand during the 1930s, Benoni and Springs boast an unusually large number of art-deco-style buildings. Art deco was the main focus of this tour, and the buildings we visited were beautiful and interesting. But I was just as interested in the glimpses I got of what life is like in small-town South Africa. Continue Reading

Bright Lights, Big City

Posted by 2summers on December 9, 2011
Posted in: Johannesburg, Johannesburg City Centre, South Africa, Walking Tours. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 49 comments

I’ve been blogging for quite a while now. I admit it gets tiresome at times. A year ago, I would rush home after doing pretty much anything and blog about it immediately. But 170 posts later, that blogging thrill doesn’t come as easily as it used to. It takes something special to get me excited to blog.

Something like Wednesday night.

Nelson Mandela Bridge at night, shot from the Queen Elizabeth Bridge.

Continue Reading

A Post About Photowalking, and a Whole Lot More

Posted by 2summers on November 30, 2011
Posted in: Arts, Culture and Sports, Emotions and Grief, Johannesburg, South Africa, Walking Tours. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 71 comments

This post was supposed to be about a photowalk. Most of you know that I’m part of the Joburg Photowalkers; last Saturday we did a walk around St. John’s College, the oldest prep school in Jozi. It’s a beautiful campus — very Dead Poets Society. It was a lovely place to explore and I enjoyed it.

The courtyard at St. John’s. It was a Saturday, unfortunately, so there were no cute high school boys walking around in jackets and ties.

As I edited through my pictures of St. John’s, I realized this post should be about something else. Or rather someone else. This post is about Joe. Continue Reading

A Diepsloot Photo-Share

Posted by 2summers on October 16, 2011
Posted in: Johannesburg, South Africa, Townships and Informal Settlements. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 26 comments

I’ve taken a lot of photographs in the developing world. And I’ve done a lot of photo-shares.

Photo-sharing. It’s great fun but leaves everyone feeling a bit unsatisfied. (Photo courtesy of Joe) Continue Reading

7 Links: A Blog Award That Doesn’t Suck

Posted by 2summers on July 26, 2011
Posted in: Cape Town, Hillbrow and Yeoville, Johannesburg, Markets and Shopping, Restaurants, Bars and Food, South Africa, Swaziland. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 17 comments

Periodically, “awards” (otherwise known as chain letters) circulate through the blogosphere. One blogger nominates another for, say, “The Most Fabulous Blogger” award. That blogger writes a post accepting the award, says a few witty things about how honored she is to be considered fabulous, then nominates a number of other bloggers for the same award. The nominees are “encouraged” to respond, usually with threats of low traffic and bad juju for those who abstain (all in good fun, of course).

I’ve been nominated for such awards a couple of times, but never formally accepted my nominations. I certainly appreciated the recognition, but felt that my acceptance posts would be boring and incomprehensible to my non-blogging readers. Continue Reading

I Fell in Love With a Squatter Camp

Posted by 2summers on July 18, 2011
Posted in: Arts, Culture and Sports, Johannesburg, South Africa, Townships and Informal Settlements. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 28 comments

Last Saturday Joe and I went to Diepsloot, a sprawling informal settlement — or squatter camp — on the northern outskirts of Joburg. We went with the Joburg Photowalkers to attend a Mandela Day celebration sponsored by the Diepsloot Arts and Culture Network.

Diepsloot.

Squatter camps like Diepsloot sprouted up in the mid-1990s, when the apartheid-era townships overflowed with people flocking to South Africa’s cities, and the government began moving those people to empty tracts of land on the cities’ edges. Nearly two decades later, the population is still growing and poverty rages on. Squatter camps, which consist mostly of corrugated iron shacks without running water or electricity, continue to swell. About 200,000 people live in Diepsloot. Continue Reading