Fly High Dirk

I met Dirk over 10 years ago when he joined us at the Joburg Photowalkers on our walks. Dirk was a young man eager to learn all about street photography some the best we had in Johannesburg. Not long after that I was invited to one of his wild parties that he used to throw, this one was his 21st birthday party. 

Dirk started growing into his career of videography starting off as a clapperboy on productions and soon started directing productions. With his career blooming I never thought I would be attending his memorial today.

Dirk, the gentle giant, lived a life wild and free, until it was cut short by a paragliding accident. I will close this post with the words of his eccentric looking father, "Scars heal, and chicks love scars, but his timing f*@$ing sucks!"

Siyabuswa

This morning after the second service at BBC, I found Gary and Dirk next to the Blankets and Maize trailer bound for Siyabuswa, a small town near Marble Hall in Mpumalanga. Siyabuswa was once the capital of the KwaNdebele in the 80s, now, well now it is the heart of the social economic development of the Hope for Africa Mission. BBC has partnered with Hope for Africa since 2011 and this winter it is the drive to supply 500 blankets and 12,000kg of maize for widows and orphans in Siyabuswa.

The Setting Up

Woke up to Sinéad this morning singing some of my favourite haunting music. As I rushed to get ready these words of so long ago ring so true today that I had to stop and listen again.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change
Courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference

I am not like I was before
I thought that nothing would change me
I was not listening anymore
Still you continued to affect me

I was not thinking anymore
Although I said I still was
I'd said "I don't want anymore"
Because of bad experience

But now I feel so different
I feel so different
I feel so different

My whole day was sent at the 12 Decades Art Hotel in downtown Johannesburg setting up our first photographic exhibition which is opening next Sunday. You can see in today's photo four of the photowalkers trying to make sense where to put all the photos. They are left to right Darren, Matt, Dirk and Mark. Craig, Arno and Suzanne joined later.

Submitting Photos

This evening the core Joburg Photowalkers got together to discuss our exhibition at the 12 Decades Art Hotel in two weeks time. We selected sizes and submitted images that we would like to exhibited. Final selection will take place next week. Left to right are (seated) Charlotte, Craig and Mark; (standing) Jacqueline, Darren, Candice, Alan and Dirk.

Dirk and Maxine

Johannesburg seems to becoming the new rain forest with all the on and off rain we've been having all summer. Today is Dirk's birthday so I set off to his digs in Linden for a braai with friends. Well if they weren't friends before they friends now.