One of my colleagues took us on a little tour of a few blocks around the office building we’re working from.  We walked around quite a bit of the financial district in Johannesburg, and it was fascinating walking with Jason because he knows quite a bit about the history of the buildings.

This is the first time that I’ve really noticed how much gorgeous Art Deco architecture actually exists in the CBD.  And I just love the way that some of the old beauties exist next to glass towers.

One of the first place we went was to the Guildhall Pub. It’s the oldest pub in Johannesburg and opened in 1888. Such character in there!


This is the building, the National Bank Building, that we’re working in for the next few days. It’s one of the oldest buildings in Johannesburg and was opened around 1902-ish. I really really wish I had a wider angle lens to take a better photo of it. The greenish dome is on top of the corner of the building, and is copper (hence the green). I took that photo from the balcony at the top. What fascinated me was in the inside of parts of the building… we went around the bottom floor of the one part, and it’s more than impressive with the art deco mixed with older styles and all the marble and gilt etc… it’s such a pity they didn’t let me take any photos of it.
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The best part of the walk was when we stopped outside the Rand Club to admire the stunning building, and as we were commenting on the columns and the detail at the top, we were stopped by a guy watching us and he asked us what we were doing. We told him, and we had a discussion about the architecture of the building. He told us that the building there now was built in 1904 (it’s the third building that has been on that site), and it’s all art deco in styling. That surprised me, because I thought it was a mixture with the art deco styles columns, yet for some reason I thought the top of the building was pre-art deco (but then again I’m no architect). He also told us that it was designed by the same architect that designed the National Bank Building which we are working in!! How cool!

Just before he got in his car, I asked him how he knew… turns out he’s the Chairman of the Rand Club!! LOL!

I would love to have seen the inside of the building, but we were completely inappropriately dressed for the place

It was an awesome experience being a tourist in my own city.  Loved it!! Made me realise what a special place it is, and it made me hope that this revitalisation of the CBD just goes from strength to strength… because those old beauties deserve to be restored to their former glory.

I just love the contrasts in this city… old Johannesburg has got so much soul… with this beautiful district and the mining district and the more funky Newtown… compared to the almost heartless Sandton.

See the full set of 2010 photo-a-day photos on my Project 365 Flickr Set.

When Noelle contacted me a few weeks ago to take photos of her kids at St John’s College I got quite excited.  I’d seen wedding and bridal photos taken at the school, and I knew the setting would be good… but I wasn’t prepared for just how good it was!

It’s the most magnificent school in Houghton and was designed by Sir Herbert Baker. Noelle wanted the photos taken there as her eldest son is in his last year at the school and she wanted photos of him in his school uniform with his first team rugby cap, as well as general family photos.  I had an absolute ball, and I could have stayed there exploring with them for another hour or so at least, but the rain was about start again (we had arrived there in a HUGE downpour but thankfully the heavens cleared for an hour and the photoshoot could go ahead).

We started in the corridors as it was raining.

Murray was quite a character with all his posing

Then we went outside to the stone steps leading to the sports fields

I don’t think Lauren quite knew what to make of all the things I was trying to get them to do

Noelle told me the story about this pathway, and I just HAD to find some way to incorporate it in the photos.  The pathway runs almost the length of the school, and was laid by the school pupils having detention over the years.  The brick is not exactly the same down the length of the path, as I’m guessing they would have had to find different suppliers over the years.

It’s a huge pity the gardens were so wet, I would have really liked to have taken more photos of Lauren against some pretty flowers, but the only place I managed to find a spot relatively dry was under this HUGE jacaranda tree

And a couple of the many photos I took of John…

And last one… one of the photos I took of him in his prefects uniform and first team rugby cap.

Thanks so much for asking me to take the photos, I really enjoyed the experience, and I hope you like the sneak peak.

I’ve been following a whole load of photographers overseas who do senior photography, and I was dying to try it out, and I loved it… I think it should become more of a trend in South Africa.  Not many people do it here yet.

I met up with a whole lot of tweeters in Newtown this morning for a photowalk, and I really enjoyed it.  We didn’t get to really spend time in Newtown during the Worldwide photowalk a few weeks ago, and I’ve always wanted to walk around there, so this was an ideal opportunity.  I learnt a lot in the process about functions on my camera that I never knew existed, and I was in awe of some of the equipment that some of the guys were carrying.

First up, I have to show you my favourite shot of the day… taken right at the very end of the walk…

These painted silhouettes on the steps outside the Market Theatre were so very cool!

Some public water fountains next to the Theatre

I tried to push myself on this walk and take photos of things I normally pass by… as you can see there are almost no people shots! Next time though, I’m definitely not going to forget my tripod and triggers for my flash so I can try some strobist stuff like the other guys were doing!

So, after last week’s beach theme for my Weekly Winners post, this week is ALL urban!  Hope you enjoyed it

Freedom Square was the last place we stopped on Friday morning in Soweto.  We spent quite a long time here because of a disasterous breakfast at the Soweto Hotel (on the square), and by the time we finished taking photos it was raining so we decided to head home.  Check out my Soweto tag for the other posts from the morning and the last trip we made.

We stopped at the brick tower in which the Bill of Rights is etched around an eternal flame (which wasn’t burning btw).  The top of the tower is open, and the opening is shaped like a cross to denote the rights of people to vote.

It was a fascinating place with all the seating areas built in the shape of crosses.  Around each of the 9 crosses, there were different acasia trees planted – each one indigenous to the province that cross represented.

The market is at the bottom of these enormous columns that border the square and is mostly covered with these tarpaulins.

These dried leaves are muti, which the guy selling them told me would fix my insides… to which Sefiso retorted “Ja, that’s because they’ll all come out”.  LOL!

We’ll be going somewhere different the next time we all meet up for photos… hopefully to the JHB CBD and Newtown prescinct.

I went to Monte Casino today for the Microsoft Mix Essential conference that was being held there( more about that on my other blog in a few minutes time… parts of it were fabulous). Of course, I took my camera along because the place is quite spectacular, but I’m afraid these are the only photos I could take.

I didn’t try take photos inside the complex, because I’ve done it before, and because I think it looks a bit tacky now, but I thought I’d go to the newish piazza area and take some shots there… which was a great idea until a security guard stopped me!! Apparently I had to ask for permission from Management to take photos. LOL!
Apparently it would have been fine if I’d take a friend along and pretended to take a photo of them, but it wasn’t ok for me to just take a photo. Bizarre! So in other words, a tourist travelling on their own is not allowed to take photos of a tourist attraction, that’s basically what they’re saying!

The thing is, I reckon that if I’d gone with a small P&S, no-one would have even batted an eyelid! He only came up to me when I changed my lens for the kit lens!
I’m finding it quite amazing that I’m getting such a reaction to me taking pics now!! I never had this problem with my old camera! This is the second time I’ve been questioned in the last few weeks, it’s quite maddening actually.
All of a sudden people are worried about what I’m doing with the photos! LOL!

Anyway, for what it’s worth, here are the only shots I managed to take. I ended up fiddling too much with the settings to get brilliant shots.

And talking about spoil sports, here’s another example for you! These kids were dying to get closer to the fountain. I find it terrible that they’ve got a chain around it! At Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, there’s a similar fountain, which has been left open, and it’s the most brilliant sight to watch the kids playing in the water on a hot day… clearly Monte Casino don’t like that idea… which is a bif pity!