VOLUME / SIX
C o v e r p h o t o g ra p h b y
: K a s s P h o t o g ra p h y
WHAT’S INSIDE...
NATIVE YOUNG
SCAR
VOICE OF CHANGE
THEY’LL CUT YOU
BANTING BANTER. BY ANNA VAN DYK
KASS PHOTOGRAPHY
TROLLS, TANTRUM
MAKING GIRLS LOOK
AND TMI
GOOD
SVEN KRISTIAN FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER
BY NERINE GARDINER
Th e v i e w s e x p re s s e d i n F L U F F a re t h o s e o f t h e w r i t e r s t h e m s e l v e s .
We are FLUFF. An unlikely pair who are not originally from the Mother City; we want to get to know the DNA that makes up this body we call home. We are not tr ying to make that paper promise called money; we are profiling Cape Town’s people and tr ying to cut that cliquey crap Cape Town has. Let’s get to know each other.
Emil Lime Founder & Creative Director / @thelimeline fluffmagazinesa@gmail.com
Alexandra Nagel Editor / @AlexandraNagel fluffmagazinesa@gmail.com
Kass Photography (photographer) web: www.kass-photography.com twitter: @kassphotography insta: @kassphotography
Claire Thomson (photographer) web: www.clairetography.com twitter: @claireshaped insta: @clairethomsonphotography
Suaad Dawood (make-up artist) web: www.suaaddartistry.co.za twitter: @SuaadDArtistry insta: @suaaddartistry
Jade Ashton Scully (stylist) insta: @foxxyles
Anna Van Dyk (writer) twitter: @AnnavanDyk
Nerine Gardiner (writer) insta: @girlwithcake
www.fluffmag.co.za
@fluffmag_sa | #FLUFF
www.facebook.com/fluffmagazinesa
@fluffmag_sa
N AT I V E Y O U N G
A VOICE OF CHANGE
Clothed in a woollen cape and living with a Shaman, Yannick has an aura that is both encapsulating and inspiring not only as a musician, but as a humbled individual. All of his music is recorded from right in his bedroom, a place where most good things usually begin‌
What was street jamming in Philippi township like? I’ve done a series of them in and around places like Gugulethu and Khayelitsha, we’re trying to tie them all into the CBD street jam. If you could be defined by a onehit wonder, which one of your songs would you choose? Crystal Lion, my first song; my baby. What other instruments can you play? Synthesising piano, guitar, didgeridoo. Have any dark tales from the past we shouldn’t know about? I’ve got lots of dark tales…here is an amended version: I used to be a gogo dancer cat Crew. Do you think it’s strange that we can’t see sound? I can and do, sound has a shape in my mind when I play. If you could be a musical note, which would it be? A minor. Why the name Native Young? Road signs in Gugulethu had NY 1, 2, 3 etc. so I asked someone what it meant, but I couldn’t understand him properly and I thought he said Native Young when actually it was Native Yard. Where have you been hiding? Are you Capetonian? Noordhoek; surfing and making music.
Can Emil get an autographed version of your album? Yes, but it’s going to cost you extra. If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be? Tom Yorke and William Onyeabor. Do you write all your songs? Yes, no one tells my story but me. How did the UK label find and sign you? They didn’t sign me as an artist, just two of my singles which will be released there. Favourite song of 2014? Sinkane – How We Be If you could cover any pop track, which would it be? Britney Spears – Toxic If you could change one thing about yesterday, what would it be? Nothing, I learn every day. How would you describe your voice? Male version of Tina Turner meets Bob Dylan meets the Bee Gees. When did you find out you could sing? Four years ago, I taught myself how to play the guitar. If you had to pick one colour to describe yourself, what would it be and why? Rainbow, I can’t be one colour.
S CA R
( Jodi and Andrew)
THEY’LL CUT YOU.
We caught up with Cape Town’s infamously notorious and outrageously distinctive hair salon, Scar Hair. If anything, the skeleton blow-drying its hair out is somewhat appealing in a creepy-cool kind of way. Once you leave that hair emporium, your head will be more than scarred for life (in a good way).
Does the salon really leave a scar
hair, lots of them; like Van Coke,
on your hair?
Jack Parow, Al Baire, The Plastics ,
No. In your MIIIIIND.
Aking, Freshly Ground, Karen Zoid … obviously Die Antwoord. Andrew
What is the most bizarre hairstyle
just fucked up Hugh Jackman’s hair
you have ever styled?
for Chappie too. Gandalf has come
A gecko on a guy’s head. Also, have
by, Vanilla Ice, Justin Hawkins from
you seen Die Antwoord?
the Darkness, that baddie guy from Homeland and his über. God wanted
What are your feelings on
an appointment, but we were full. All
dreadlocks?
our clients are famous.
We love cutting them (off). What do you like about FLUFF? Are you from Cape Town?
The way it gathers in my boyfriend’s
Both Andrew and I are originally from
belly button. We also love the way it
KwaZulu-Natal.
sounds backwards: FFULF.
Do you believe crystals have
Is it hard to cut and style one’s
magical healing powers?
own hair? How do you get the
Last Wednesday I did (Andrew says
back parts?
no, it’s all a myth…).
It’s like giving yourself a blowjob.
How did Scar Hair come to be?
What is your favourite form of
About 13 years ago, after a busy
social media?
season at Scar (clothing) in Long
Talking.
Street, Andrew opened the salon. I joined Andrew about 10 years ago
Where can I get a really good
and the rest is our history.
chicken pie from? I don’t eat little chickens, but Andrew
Which famous people’s hair have you styled/cut? We do a bunch of our local bands
says Keeurom’s Rivier in Plett.
BANTING Last July, whilst visiting family in Durban, I found myself at a dinner table alongside some of Cape Town’s finest Southern Suburbers. This was the type of couple who wore Country Road exclusively, got their daily coffee from Vida and holidayed at Ski Resorts in Italy. Most significantly however, these two-tanned individuals banted. For the longest time, I assumed that “banting” was the noise one makes after completing a 10k run. I never thought this was an
incorrect assumption as I have never completed a 10k run. Our lovely couple however, took great delight in filling me in on Dr Noakes’ clever con. A highfat-low-carb diet? Were people seriously buying into this? It seemed so, the blonde and impossibly toned Southern Suburb mother emphatically assured me. “And you know what, now that this diet has hit Cape Town, you just cannot get cauliflower anywhere in Woolies. I tried about four different Woolies stores one day, just looking for cauliflower and all of them were out.”
G BANTER - by Anna van Dyk
“Why didn’t you try Checkers?” Silence.I had committed the highest faux pas at an upper middle class dinner party: I had mentioned the C word. In a fumbled, flushed terror I tried to talk myself out of the blank stares and horrified facial expressions that met my foolish suggestion. Of course no one who wears Country Road steps foot in Checkers. Fool! It occurred to me, then, the great paradox of the current South African economic climate. Being thin has become the rich person’s epidemic, whilst obesity haunts the lower brackets of our society.
To understand this, one only has to consider that at KFC, one can buy four deep fried chicken wings, chips and a chicken burger for R40; whilst a CarbClever meal for one from Woolworths goes for R59.99. In ten years’ time, when this HCLF trend is revealed as a high risk for diabetes and other cholesterolrelated disasters, the real social and economic injustice underlying it all will be forgotten. And that’s the way the Woolies carobpecan-nut-vanilla-swirl-low-carb cookie crumbles.
K A S S P H OT O G R A P H Y
MAKING GIRLS LOOK GOOD
When you meet someone who likes chutney and butter salt flavour on their movie popcorn, they are either really creative or simply have no taste buds. Kass is the former with her photography skills and ar tistic scenes lulling you into sweet moments of “ooohs”, “aahs” and sometimes even “Why-isthat-girl-next-to-a-giant-icecream?” questions.
Who does that cute little Boston terrier that features on your Instagram and twitter profiles belong too? Her name’s Evey and you can follow her on Instgram @evey_the_bostie
Where is your favourite place to shoot in Cape Town? Deserted waterpark in Macassar in Cape Town.
If you could be any type of camera lens, which would it be? 50, 1.4 – it’s perfect.
If you could only learn one lesson in your lifetime, which would it be? How to fly a plane.
Which magazine would you ideally like to shoot the main feature for? Vogue US.
Who would you like to be photographed by? Annie Leibovitz.
Who would you really like to photograph? Candice Swanepoel, one of the Victoria’s Secret Angels & Andrej Pejic!!!! Are you from the Cape? No, born George and I grew up in Namibia. Are there any real Capetonians in Cape Town? There’s a few, however most cool people aren’t from here ;) How would you describe your photography style? Crisp, and clean; I try find the beauty in every person. Have you always known that you would go into photography? Yes, from an early age. I used to take actions shots of my brother and sell the photos to them afterwards.
What is the most scandalous thing you have ever taken a photo of? A recreated murder scene. What is your favourite photo shoot to date? I love the hair-tug wars and the hot dog shoot I did. Do you have a picturesque scene that always stands out in your mind (one that you haven’t taken though)? Colourful wigs from Sweden (hairdressing is the major profession there, you know). Any hidden gems in Cape Town you would like to share with us? Bali Bay beach. Tell us a secret. Ssssh.
TROLLS, TANTRUMS AND TMI
It’s a strange thing to look back at what the internet used to be. We’ve come so far from the days when you’d dial up (and oh, how long that dial-up lasted) for facts, random chat sites and an email account that could go days without the flicker of a new mail. So far from the days when only authors, journalists, celebrities and politicians had a voice and the rest of us were forced to conceal their opinions with silence. Thankfully, nowadays we have the ability to comment online on almost anything, share any thought on social media… in fact, share anything pretty much anywhere on the internet. Oh, how far we’ve come. Or have we? Sure, everyone now has
a platform to raise their opinion, but should the power of widely broadcasted words really be given to everyone? As a writer, you’re taught that your words hold value and weight and that you should always be able to stand accountable for the things you put down on paper. But, on the internet, we’re all writers. And, most of us don’t give our words a second thought. So we bandy about our poison tongues, oblivious to any damage we cause because, to us, our words are fleeting and something we type from behind a mask. Shifty nicknames, the power of anonymity and the protection of a computer screen means we never truly have to be held accountable for anything we say, which makes hurling about judgment and negativity even easier.
Next time you feel the urge to write your negative comment, remember this – your words will stay with the people who read them. All the people. Not just the one or two you’re criticising. And, when they leave their computers, they will carry your negativity into the world with them, where they will complain about how mean people have become. Because of you. When I was younger, my mom used to annoy me with her incessant, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Never have I valued her words more.
SVEN KRISTIAN
FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER
a German Namibian living and working in Cape Town. My journey takes me from a bland career in Hotel Management that lasted for over 10 years to a beautiful roller coaster ride of a career in photography, with my key interests lying in fashion and editorial, fashion advertising, portraiture, conceptual and music. In 2011 I moved back to South Africa to study photography, after spending
around 9 years abroad. With only 2 years behind me as a freelancer and a self taught retoucher, I approach every project with passion and a fine attention to detail, to not only fulfil the expectations of the brief, but to exceed them, while maintaining a certain voice, style and aesthetic visible throughout my work, an aesthetic that allows me to be me.
www.instagram.com/svenkristianphoto | www.svenkristian.com | presentation and commercial work queries: www.birdonawire.co.za
P H OTO G R A P H B Y
K A S S P H OTO G R A P H Y