aesthetikselektor

aesthetikselektor Vol.1

FACELESS. “The first time I picked up a camera I thought I’d never have to say another word.”

editors note We live with the dangers of an open mind. Thoughts crash into delirium and ideas become more absurd. In effort to show that things are not always what they seem, we create a metaphor or 3‌ adding meaning to the mundane.

WHAT WE ARE DOING IS IMPORTANT

contents When the whole world went mad (3) Monkey Business………………...(8) Beige……………………………..(14) Faceless………………………….(18) Mood Monster…………………...(22)

The kitchen…………………..(26) Gogo Langa………………….(30) Abstract nothing……………..(34) The oneness of two & three..(42) “WE”………………………....(45)

The new decade greeted us with blazing fires and a smoky orange sky. A seemingly unstoppable path of destruction raged Down Under, choking and burning the life out of everything that it touched. In some way, depending on how you look at it I guess, the Black Summer of Australia was an indication of what the rest of the year had in store for us. Of how it would go against our wishes. Of how the fire would

continue burning for a little while longer and the smoke would slowly fill our lungs without us even realising it, before it was too late.

When the ridiculous rumour spread that someone had eaten a bat in Wuhan and had caused a virus to spread (All things considered, I hope that was a tasty bat), who would have imagined that by March a worldwide shutdown would be initiated

and we’d have to spend the better part of the year in our homes, deprived of the human interaction and attention we’ve grown so accustomed to.

From our isolation, we couldn’t even watch the world go by from our windows because everything had stopped.

The Coronavirus has defined 2020 and placed a tall, looming shadow over everything else. It’s terrifying to acknowledge that the things that bring us together as people simply weren’t there anymore. International sports events, concerts, festivals, conventions, music and movies (I’m not the only one sour about No Time to Die) disappeared while death made itself more prominent and personal to us than ever before. Nothing is actually real until it’s in your face happening to you. Amidst the pandemic, locusts swarmed parts of North Africa, the Middle East and South America, the worst floods since 1998 displaced people in China, East Africa, India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

What’s looking to be the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression is still going on (what a throwback to the ‘30s). Whispers of World War III, after Trump bodied some Iranian General with a drone, came and went. Remember when Kim Jong – un disappeared for two weeks and everyone thought he was dead, or when NASA said that the asteroid that passed us in August was the closest one in history? What happened to those killer hornets that popped up out of nowhere?

And despite all this we’re still arguing amongst ourselves about the value of black lives and how justified it is for a cop to kneel on a man’s neck for nine minutes.

yourself into believing everything will be alright, but at times it can’t be helped.

Maybe in ten years or so Hollywood will dish out the 2020 experience again, but this time via a dumb two hour movie starring some A – list American actors dressed as superheroes that go on a mission to save the world from a deadly virus that was brought to Earth by malicious aliens. When that time comes maybe we’ll be so far removed it’ll seem like a distant dream, or something to chuckle at. Maybe…

I write these anticipation.

-

words

with

Abongile Mayana

monkey business

Our frivolous routine is not so different from a circus act.

Bo Bo the monkey is brought out before an audience of gawkers. He knows the deal perfectly by now, he’s gone through it enough times. Perform enough tricks to make the gawkers laugh and clap, make them “ooh” and “ahh” enough times and he will be rewarded with bananas.

Bananas make the world go around; everyone knows this.

The richest monkey in the world owns almost two hundred billion bananas! Can you believe it? With a couple more bananas, Bo Bo will finally be able to afford that one hundred- and fifty-two-inch TV he has been eyeing. His girl has been talking about some Brazilian wavy twenty-eight inch, he’ll have to keep that in mind, plus there’s a little monkey on the way so they seriously need to start considering moving into a bigger tree. Sooner rather than later, Bo Bo will need to approach the Big Ape and discuss a promotion. If it means more bananas, he doesn’t mind doing more tricks for the gawking gawkers.

A day at the office doesn’t seem that much different from a day at the circus. Bo Bo doesn’t have the best job in the jungle, even he knows this, but he reminds himself that at least he isn’t shovelling shit like other monkeys. A word of warning to anyone who dares wander this dense, impassable jungle unaware; hold on tight to your bananas, there’s always a monkey lurking nearby looking to snatch them from you.

Monkeys who complain about bananas simply don’t have any, simple as that. Two thousand and six hundred more bananas before Bo Bo can finally afford to abandon that old rust bucket he has been lugging around and pull up in a car more fitting of a monkey such as himself. But bananas don’t grow on trees, so until then Bo Bo will continue working hard to please the gawkers. If he can’t, the Big Ape will simply kick him to the curb and find a monkey that will. It’s nothing personal, Bo Bo. It is just business after all, nothing evil about it.

- Abongile Mayana

Models: Mercilove Shirindza (@messjigga_the_kasi_james_bond) Mihlali Xego (@l0w_kii) Photographer: Qaphile Langa (@chamaeleonq)

“Security is not just a key; it is also the door that it opens. But what is a lock, really, to a man in need?” Caution becomes him and he ought to travel light. But this is monkey business, so without thinking, he proceeds with greed… creeping underneath the feet of the earth.”

- Ignoramus

Model: Tiisetso Sekgololo (@yungtii) Photographer: Qaphile Langa (@chamaeleonq) Assistant: Chaka Dlamini (@soru.no_hana), Sizwe Klass (@sir.klaas)

(@__familiarstranger )

Photographer: kgalaletso Moerane

Model: Qaphile Langa

beige

Here’s a day South African millennials would describe as when the “combos were communicating.” A photographer, a stylist, and five of the most incredible models came together. Some of the best collaborations need only location and perfect timing, and perhaps there will never be another day like Saturday the 17th of August 2020.

I woke up with my fingers itching to press the shutter button. With no real idea of what I would shoot, I made the first call. “Jay! Today feels like a great day to work. There’s no concept, just bring whoever is keen.” Having worked with these guys before made things that much easier.

The next call was to Zamamiya Majola, our stylist. I couldn’t confirm how many models we would have but this posed as no obstacle for this legend. She had one instruction: “tell them to wear creams, pearls and shades of beige.” It was right there, how could I call this shoot anything else other than ‘Beige’? The name was as punchy as the images; nothing more and nothing less than what you are seeing.

Hours went by with everyone still keen on doing more. Suggestions were being thrown around and in the true fashion of collaboration, everyone was actively engaged. -Qaphile Langa

Models: Tumelo Msutu (@i.love.tumii), Teboho Mdiniswa (@22in5), Mihali Xego (@l0w_kii), Chaka Dlamini (@soru.no_hana), Mercilove Shirindza (@messjigga_the_kasi_jame_bond) Stylist: Zamamiya Majola (@iintombi_) Photographer: Qaphile Langa (@chamaeleonq)

faceless

“The first time I picked up a camera, I thought I’d never have to say another word. By now we all know that a picture speaks a thousand words and in the ‘Faceless’ series we sought to explore identity through the environment of our subjects rather than their faces. What if who you are was what you did? A photographer, a smoker, a telemarketer, and a fool in love.” – Ignoramus

Models: Qaphile Langa (@chamaeleonq), Mercilove Shirindza (@messjigga_the_kasi_james_bond), Chaka Dlamini (@soru.no_hana) Photographer: Qaphile Langa Article: Abongile Mayana (@abo.mayana)

I encountered a faceless man up in the mountains. He spoke to me in quaint quiescence because the trees have never needed him to shout. He told me he’s lived up there for many years, alone but never lonely. According to the faceless man it’s better than being down below among the indoctrinated. That’s what he calls the other people. He believes they don’t want him around anyway, so it’s a win win.

I inquired as to how one becomes faceless. He told me when the regime has done all they can with you, after they’ve worked every bit of their magic to no avail, they toss you aside. At that moment you have become useless, a lost cause. “Lumkela,” he warns me. The world is a giant amalgamation project, we’re being stripped away of our individuality and presented with pre ordered prejudices and beliefs. He said it is better to become an émigré and create your own identity. The true faceless are the people at the bottom of the mountain who have forgone their identities and chosen to become clones. At least, this is what the faceless man told me.

Before I left to return home and ponder on what I had experienced, the faceless man took my hand in both of his and promised, “Raconteur, ndakubambela intaka ekushiyayo”. And I believe him.

-Abongile Mayana

Mood monster

Through a perspective of choice, we seldom give thought to appreciating the things that used to haunt us. Experiences and memories of the past exist to remind us of how much stronger we are getting. The potential never ends.

The mood monster is a reflection on things that no longer need to be feared. Accessorizing the monsters, despite their “inhumane� appearances, gives them a life where they no longer have to be feared but rather complimented.

Being able to somehow find more peace within yourself.

Some significance is given to the eyes of the monsters to show the reality of the consciousness, as being deeper introspections that expand our understanding of the self.

- Chaka Dlamini

‘Mood Monster Relived’ Artist: Chaka Dlamini (@soru.no_hana)

‘I want to remember’

‘Eyedonna’ (top) ‘Mitosis’ (left)

the kitchen

“I think about if ‘hoe’ was life and I had to give it out just to get some. Turn 2 minutes into 2 days, breaking bread with loose change. I’ve been broke before. We do not choose the hand we are dealt but we make the best out of circumstance, getting comfortable with our vices.

She has nowhere else to go and he’s secretly in love with her, so they stay a while longer in the kitchen today before going to their usual block. It’s a tough life, living day to day. But even dying is expensive, so they stay while longer in the kitchen before making ends meet.”

- Ignoramus

‘Diamond’ (top), ‘Untitled’ (left), ‘Summer in June’ (bottom) Artist: Chaka Dlamini (@soru.no_hana)

I think about all the visions I have about women exuding confidence and power. In Most of them, women are dressed provocatively and are dancing.

Here, we are celebrating the power of being a woman with no shame or judgement. The strippers all look different and are wearing different outfits to represent the versatility in female anatomy.

- Chaka Dlamini

Models: Chaka Dlamini (@soru.no_hana), Kwezi Zithutha (@huffy1000) Photographer: Qaphile Langa (@chamaeleonq) Drawings: Chaka Dlamini

Gogo Langa

I have a lot to be grateful for, when I recall a period in my childhood living with 24 people in a single rondavel hut. It sounds ridiculous, but my grandmother, Sadie Langa raised us all with her pension. We shared everything as a family and there was peace. As a child, you don’t really know the difference between rich and poor, and it is through the efforts of Gogo Langa that we never recognized struggle.

She was practically a single mother, with her husband Zephaniah Langa living in a small village called Xolobeni in the Eastern Cape where he practised as a traditional healer. The day a telegram came (this was back in 1979) with tragic news of his passing, Gogo Langa stopped all she was doing outside, went into the rondavel, wrapped herself in a blanket and cried soft tears.

Of the many lessons she passed down to me, one in particular was emphasised.

Her exact words were, “ungakhulumi kakhulu.” My grandmother was strongly against gossip to the point where she would not allow the girls in the family to visit people often. She was not a person of many words herself and she recognized the trouble it caused to involve oneself in other people’s issues or burdening others with your own.

It feels like just the other day a new month was beginning and all 11 of us children were lined up to receive 2 cents allowance each for school. While she is not my birth mother, she is the one I regarded as ‘mom’ throughout my childhood and I’m still so grateful to have had such a strong and gentle woman in my life. I believe I am who I am today because of the love of Gogo Langa.

- Nonceba Langa

Model: Zanda Langa (@iameulander) Photographer: Qaphile Langa Words: Nonceba Langa

abstract nothing

“Adding meaning to the mundane is an approach to life we should all have. It's about recognizing and celebrating the little things. The little things that accumulate into great things.

But then again. It could be that life is inherently boring. And that we add a lot of meaning to meaningless things to make sense of the world.�

- Kgalaletso Moerane (@__familiarstranger)

Models: Kgalaletso Moerane, Qaphile Langa Photographer/Stylist: Qaphile Langa Director/Words: Kgalaletso Moerane

“Strange fruit Love child.

Let people people how they choose to. Yours is to labour through breath: take it in with as much honesty as you possess, and gently, gently exhale.�

- Noluthando M Sibisi (@n_m_sibisi)

Model: Chaka Dlamini (@soru.no_hana) Photographer: Qaphile Langa (@chamaeleonq) Words: Noluthando M Sibisi (@n_m_sibisi)

Model: Qaphile Langa Photographer: Chaka Dlamini

“Distraction is one of man’s greatest vices… and I think it is funny how we sometimes create little issues to distract ourselves from our inability of solving the bigger problems of the world. The earth is dying, and we are arguing about pineapple on pizza.”

- Ignoramus

“Today is the perfect day to forgive the mind for not always knowing or understanding. Today is a good day to embrace the parts that are impatient, that make miscalculations and mistakes; this is all evidence of life flowing through the body.�

- Noluthando M Sibisi (@n_m_sibisi)

Models: Masi (@marsdaredplanet), Ivory (@ivoryckc) Photographer: Qaphile Langa (@chamaeleonq) Words: Noluthando M Sibisi (@n_m_sibisi)

the oneness of two and three

So why are we here? Or is that not the first question? Have you not been wondering just what ‘aesthetikselektor’ is? If she is ‘Two’, then I am ‘Three’ and together we become one. Still confused?

There is enough visual ecstasy in this publication to call it a look book, but it is not that simple. In what might be described as a very ‘indoorsy’ year, two heads came together with a simple mandate: adding meaning to the mundane. CHAMAELEON COLLECTION took the idea of creating from home to a level of absurdity, working with him and her on this and that.

While some shoots were as simple as just posing in front of the camera, some were well thought out concepts driven by a series of thought-provoking metaphors and key collaborations. We aimed at telling stories this year, about the bizarre nature of capitalism through “Monkey Business” where we used bananas to represent currency. We even explored the theme of identity through the “Faceless” series. But bananas and pillowcases were not the only things on our list of mundane objects.

The phone became a particularly interesting tool during a period of imposed online communication. At times it was necessary for reaching out to loved ones, raising awareness on political and socio-economic issues, and even providing a distraction from all the chaos of 2020. Whether it was the legendary Nokia 3310, the landline, or a hand gesture, the phone made an appearance in many shoots making communication an underlying theme.

At the end of November, CHAMAELEON COLLECTION began putting together a digital yearbook highlighting the moments that spoke to the idea of adding meaning to the mundane. This yearbook would be called ‘aesthetikselektor’ - Qaphile Langa

Models: Chaka Dlamini (@soru.no_hana), Qaphile Langa (@chamaeleonq) Photographer: Qaphile Langa Assistant: AkTheEscapist (@aktheescapist.co.za)

Model: Mudiwa (@mudiwa_brandon) Photographer: Qaphile Langa Assistants: Chaka Dlamini, Abongile Mayana

Writer

Abongile Mayana (left)

Editor/Designer

Qaphile Langa (right)

Editor/Designer

Chaka Dlamini (left)

Model: Lulutho Mehlomakulu (@young_blxck_woman) Photographer: Qaphile Langa Assistant: Chaka Dlamini

Model: Mihlali Xego (@l0w_kii) Photographer: Qaphile Langa Assistant: Chaka Dlamini

aesthetikselektor vol.1 20/12/20 WHAT WE ARE DOING IS IMPORTANT

TM