Alyssa Bistonath Photography: Of Life After 24,

Alyssa Bistonath Photography

Archive for August, 2008

Field fire, Stanger side, the port and good night.

Field fire near Durban on Friday night.

Field visit to a village near Stanger on Saturday morning.

Visit to the Port in Durban this evening (Sunday- day off)

Good night!

South Africa so far.

Today was my 4th day in South Africa.  It has been a wild ride out here, each day I am learning and photographing from first light until driving back to the hotel at night.  Happily, I have internet so I can show you a few photos.  This first one is from a series of photos we’re doing about  food security, and the second from a football game I photographed on top of a mountain. 

Not missing, just missed.

It has been ages since I’ve seen or spoke to many of you, but as you know I’ve been in Kenya working with the Tumaini Children’s Project.  It was a great time being back home briefly.  My friends and family really circled around and helped me make the most of the time between trips. For those who were following along on the Piga Picha blog - the World Youth Congress (Quebec) exhibit and lecture went well.  I felt so privileged to be a delegate, and I am extremely pleased with the response to the children’s photographs.  The lecture went smoothly, and generated a lot of interest in the project.  I met tons of great youth leaders who I am excited to work with in the future.

Now I’m headed off to South Africa (currently I am in Washington) on assignment with World Vision. Since my trip to Ethiopia with them last year I have been itching to shoot for them again.  This time we are headed over to shoot photographs in Durban and Bloemfontein with a focus on food security in this area of Africa.  Many of you will remember from the news earlier this year that Durban was an area where attacks were carried out against foreign immigrants because of their effect on employment.  Cities are rarely the same after such events, and I wonder what Durban will be like.  In Kisumu (Kenya) where I was with TCP, many of the locals spoke of the post-election violence like they themselves could not believe it happened even though the legacy left by burnt buildings, tire-melted roads and hateful graffiti was every where.  
I am slowly beginning to learn some of the many complexities that affect Africa.  I love the continent even more now that I know some of these realities than when I was an idealistic child.  I hope this trip will not only yield photos that inspire change and action, but I hope that I will learn what change needs to be had in my own life. 
I am extremely grateful for all of your well wishes, and thoughts.  I’ll be seeing you soon!
Bless,
Alyssa

we stay the same (and change at the same time)

After spending the majority of the summer working overseas in Africa I came home to Ontario with fresh eyes. In desperate need of rest I found myself at my parent’s house in Brampton. I usually don’t consider Brampton as a place “to get away from it all”, but only minutes after my friend from Toronto showed up we were walking through the fields and farmland retreating from the burden of time that would steal me away to travel once again. We considered our time that weekend “ageless.” We dressed up in costumes, and towed my dog around exploring abandoned farms like we were nine-year-old adventurers rather than two mid-twenties artists. There is something about the rural Ontario landscape that inspired us to “play”. The whimsy of that weekend helped me rejuvenate in ways that so many international vacations had failed to do in the past. The photographs reflect a number of things. A fierce fondness for my homeland, the desire to see it grow as I do, but mostly I hope they reflect the way that I feel about my friends when I see them in it. The range of weather and the timeless landscapes affected our emotions, heightened our humour, and bonded us together just as we prayed the summer would before the fall brought back upon us the responsibilities of adulthood.

      

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i knew you before i loved you, i loved you before i knew you, let’s make photos!