Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Picturing the moment with ‘extra edge’
Duotone Photographic Exhibition showcases aspiring photojournalists, writes SOYISO MALITI The look of jazz Page 16 Penguin population under pressure Page 17
JP CROUCH takes his photojournalism so seriously that, despite owning a camera, he hired a high-end one for R2 000 for two nights during last year’s Cape Town Jazz Festival. The Kuils River musician and photojournalist considers this decision “one of (my) best investment decisions ever”.
He is one of five photojournalists who have their work displayed at the Duotone Photographic Exhibition for young and upcoming photographers. This year’s festival will be a tribute to late jazz legend Hugh Masekela and photographer Peter McKenzie, one of the first Duotone exhibition curators.
Though he has his own equipment, Crouch’s rented camera enabled him to take “pictures with an extra edge” at the festival.
“It was fairly by luck and a last-minute thing that I joined the mentorship programme. I’ve always enjoyed music photography,” he said.
Crouch said he became an artist and a photographer at the same time, because he likes to express himself and is always looking to capture moments.
“What I had done leading up to the event was I rented additional equipment and I know from experience that using the best equipment gives you an extra edge on images. Getting the opportunity to shoot at the jazz festival was a big achievement for me. It was a huge thing for me because I can capture international and local artists. As an artist, it is something I have a passion for.”
He said being chosen for the exhibition was a highlight for his career.
Zimasa Mpemnyama, 26, a freelance photojournalist from Nyanga East, said the moment she saw a picture of Masekela receiving his first trumpet from Louis Armstrong in 1956 made her want to become a photojournalist.
She said her best picture was of her favourite artists, Thandiswa Mazwai and Herbie Tsoaeli, praying on stage. Mpemnyama encouraged black women to apply for the week-long course.
Speaking from Kampala in Uganda, Samson Baranga, a photojournalist, won’t be able to make it to the festival to see the exhibition, but said he was happy his work would be displayed on the “biggest musical stage on earth”.
He said the best picture he took last year was of the Soweto String Quartet and American artist, Andra Dey. “Day had been interacting with her guitarist and I thought their chemistry was really something cool,” Baranga said.