Page 86 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 23

Art & culture
rt comes in various
forms to every one of
Aus. To some, their art
comes in the form of dancing,
singing, painting, creative
innovation, writing, playing
musical instruments, making
culinary masterpieces, or even
talking. All of these are just
snippets of the universe called
art.
If there is something I enjoy
doing, it is taking photos,
writing, singing and teaching.
Even though I do not have a
favorite on the list, photography
seems to have a different vibe.
I guess I love the fact that I
can literally “grab” or “snap” a
particular location within time
and “transfer” that location to
somewhere else or store it in a
device. It just feels terrific to be
able to do that.
Now, I tend to have definitions
for anything I am interested in,
and it makes sense to me. I am
that guy who hates being boxed
into a notion or ideology that
restricts my ability to have or
create my ideology or thoughts
about things or concepts. If a
definition does not make sense
to me or has exhausted its
original usefulness, I create a
new one for myself.
86 | we tell the true afrikan story
If you search online, you will
probably find many definitions
of photography and even
art in general, which are all
likely to be valid. But for me,
photography means:
“the art of painting with light,
in which your camera is your
brush and the universe is your
canvas.”
For me, ART is an acronym
for the “Ability to Recreate
Thoughts”. And it makes a
whole lot of sense to me that
it’s true that art in all its form
is not what one creates because
one can think up something, but
what one recreates out of what
is created within the universe
and which is projected to the
human mind through thoughts
and imaginations.
The truth is, there is nothing
new in the universe, and
creativity is really about taking
what has already been created
within the universe and giving it
expression in the natural world,
which means that you really
cannot think up something
that does not already exist
somewhere within the universe.
Thus, a piece of art is really
what it is: a piece of art and
not art itself. Art is the ability
to recreate that which has been
created within the vast spectrum
of the universe and then give it
a piece of expression. So, when
you buy a painting, you are not
buying art; you are buying a
physical piece of art recreated
from an already existing mental
or spiritual piece of art.
It’s like when you take a photo
with your camera; the camera
does not create the object you
snapped; it is always there.
The camera was just your tool
for recreating that which was
already there. And that’s the
beauty of nature. Nature allows
us to take samples of herself and
never charges us for copyright
infringement. It’s just so lovely
to be able to do that.
Photography and stories
There are stories all around us
if we open our eyes to see them.
Waking up in the morning to see
that beautiful shade of yellow-
gold light sipping through the
window blind is a lovely story
of a new day and a new dose
of life, and that is a story that
not everyone will have the
opportunity to tell. Some people
die in their sleep and never get
to see the sunrise.
Now, if photography is painting
with light, painting must mean