K KEITH TAMKEI 2017 PORTFOLIO
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P Photography [Inner CIty Dojo] Sunday Times Lifestyle editorial
K KEITH TAMKEI 2017 PORTFOLIO
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D Design [Contents page treatment] Sunday Times Lifestyle editorial
K KEITH TAMKEI 2017 PORTFOLIO
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D Layout Design [Don Cheadle, Actor/Activist] Sunday Times Lifestyle editorial
K KEITH TAMKEI 2017 PORTFOLIO
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DI Layout Design / illustration [Type Caste] Sunday Times Lifestyle
K KEITH TAMKEI 2017 PORTFOLIO
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D Layout Design [Arundati Roy] Sunday Times Lifestyle
K KEITH TAMKEI 2017 PORTFOLIO
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DI Layout Design / Illustration [Apocolypse Survival for the Ultra Rich] Sunday Times Lifestyle editorial
K KEITH TAMKEI 2017 PORTFOLIO
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DOWNTOWN DOJO
PW Photographic Essay / Writing [Downtown Dojo] Sunday Times Lifestyle editorial
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ORTY-ONE years ago, Tresor Ntotila was an 18-yearold bully, roaming the streets of Kinshasa looking for a fight. By his account, there was never an opponent he couldn’t beat. Fighting was what he was good at, and he seemed aimed towards a life of thuggery. In 1974, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman’s televised “Rumble in the Jungle” changed all that. Ntotila remembers watching the fight at midnight, and recalls the celebrations on the street after Ali won by a knockout. The next day, his father persuaded Ntotila to emulate his idol and hone his aggressive streak in the boxing ring. After a year, Ntotila switched to karate and demonstrated a talent for the martial art. He was dubbed “Chuck ” by his sensei,
after Hollywood martial arts star Chuck Norris. Within five years, Chuck Ntotila gained his first black belt, thereafter establishing a dojo in Kinshasa that is still flourishing today. Now almost 60, Ntotila, who is also a French language teacher, leads a team in training young children from Joburg’s mean streets. During holidays and weekends, he instructs inner-city kids in an open-air dojo. Those with parents who can afford it pay a monthly fee; most cannot. Ntotila is anxious about the direction that youngsters, heavily influenced by the trappings of celebrity and violence in the media, are taking. “If you give a kid R1 000, what will they spend it on? Most likely it will be on clothes, beer or having a good time. Not often on
their education.” He offers his karate as an alternative, imparting the attributes of self-discipline, respect and diligence — lessons that aided him in subduing his own violent tendencies. As evidence, on a sunny winter Saturday morning, young children practise katas instead of abusing substances in a park in Troyeville. The students joke and giggle between instructions, but are attentive to their teachers during drills. All the while, the lifeskilling tenets of karate are expounded by the various sensei. As a fighter turned teacher, Tresor Ntotila measures his fortune by how many of the young students successfully defend their futures with his input. Those in the park, at least, seem to have a firm start. KT
K KEITH
FULL THROTTLE LIFESTYLE
TAMKEI 2017 PORTFOLIO
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IND buffeting exposed limbs, thundering exhaust pipes and, of course, Steppenwolf ’s Born To Be Wild cranked up to the red. A striking motorbike poster inspired Mars Bonfire to write this song. And one wonders how much gridlock escapism has been roused by those rebellious lyrics, the howling appeal to birthright, and that sermon in rock ’n roll to abandon civility. When hitched to the 1969 film Easy Rider, the lure of “Racin’ with the wind” added fuel to the already flaming appeal of motor biking. The fire hasn’t dimmed. Riding a motorbike still screams antihero coolness, but the leisure bike culture has expanded from being the pastime of burly bald men hanging about in bars. The Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride, a social and fundraising gathering of classic bike-riding dandies, has attracted over 57 000 participants globally. With the aim of raising funds for men’s health research, the organisation recommends a well-manicured moustache plus a silk vest and tailored suit as appropriate apparel for riding. Gender lines are also being erased. Women aren’t content just being the passengers. Lanakila MacNaughton, a US-based photographer, has been documenting the growing popularity of bike riding among females in her Women’s Motorcycle Exhibition. She plays down any overt feminism; her pictures are simply of riders having fun with the sense of liberation that two wheels and open air provide. The transforming and seductive power of motorbiking found in those sleek lines of chromed metal are still a fantasy for many. Perhaps for those needing to hammer out their individual identity, or those weighted with the concerns of modern living. I fall more or less into the latter category, not burdened but often piqued by the prospect of adventure. So, when presented with the opportunity to attend BMW Motorrad’s Pure&Crafted Festival, I
Writing [Full Throttle Lifestyle] Photograph: Lanakila MacNaughton Sunday Times Lifestyle editorial
thought I could discover reasons for that niggling fascination. Held in Berlin’s east side at a disused postal station, everything and everyone circling the orbit of leisure riding poured in. Within the red-brick hall of the station compound were tattoo artists, leather workers, barbers and enough paraphernalia to fill the prop room of Tarantino’s Titty Twister strip club. Outside, among the industrial landscape of overhead cranes and railways, rock artists performed for an audience of head-bangers and families. Enthusiasts displayed their magnificent machines from various ages, and customisations glinted like trophies on pedestals. The leader of an allwoman riding team demonstrated atop a saddle, next to a grinning gent in lederhosen and his vintage ride. In the Motordrom — a tall barrel-shaped arena from the post-apocalyptic mind of Mad Max producer George Miller — daredevils entertained the mob with showy manoeuvres while spiralling on loudly snapping machines. On every corner were bobbers, scramblers, café racers and flashy vintage whatnots. Everywhere denim, leather, rattle and hum. If only one could condense this rich atmosphere into an elixir, the smell of burning gasoline and raging spirit. A single gulp would undoubtedly overwhelm inhibitions and strengthen strides. But in its absence the flowing German ale would suffice. In two hazy days of observing and interacting with this concentration of enthusiasts, I found the scratch to my itch. Here were crafters gratified by their hard work and riders appreciative of each other’s beasts; bikers as the modern day equivalent of a noble equine class, but without the snobbery. Gradually I realised that the world of heavy metal thunder was less about malevolence and more about confidence. Perhaps that was the allure, men and women unfettered, in every way. authentic. KT
K KEITH TAMKEI 2017 PORTFOLIO
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DI Layout Design / Illustration [Downtown Dojo] Sunday Times Lifestyle editorial
K KEITH TAMKEI 2017 PORTFOLIO
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D Layout Design [The Rock ‘n’ Roll Life of Jann Wenner] Sunday Times Lifestyle editorial
K KEITH TAMKEI 2017 PORTFOLIO
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P Photography [After the Rain in Amsterdam] Personal Project