It's all so Complex!

04/02/2010

It’s All So Complex!

So it’s only my second blog and i am already complaining! As i sit in Java’s watching the traffic build up around garden city the only blessing i am counting is the fact that i use boda’s so i know i won’t have to sit in it.  As for the person i am meeting they are late, probably due to traffic.  Work is busy, but complex; it’s hard to balance an honest spirit with people who seem to constantly want to squeeze money out of you at a constant rate. My example is one of my current jobs.  First we agree on the budget....then as crunch time approaches you decide to hike up the prices and leave me no choice but to be in a state of panic trying to find a solution for my client. Why?

But this is a learning curve for me. My ability to think the best of people has surly gotten the better of me and for a moment perhaps i forgot what it truly means to try and work as an artist or anything in an African country. I’m feeling bitter and twisted and gagged! Stop and Breath I’m reminding myself.  But deep down i know the solution will come to me, I’m sure of it. A positive attitude and some faith in self is really needed right now. So put my iPod in and stick on Guru ‘Keep your worries’ 

On a more progressive note and away from the rant, I am looking forward to hopefully travelling up North to Gulu soon.  The two trips i have made up there so far have not been the most work filled and more on a social level.  My first trip was made with a group called Blu3.  They went to do a show, we spent the whole day driving, breaking down, driving some more and by the time we reached i was so tired i just fell asleep to wake up in the morning and have to drive all the way back to Kampala.  The second trip with The Bavubuka All*Starz was more productive, meeting people and enjoying the environment.  The Acholi people are surly a force to be reckoned with.  After years of struggle, war and fear we were greeted with nothing but smiles and welcoming gestures.  The Acholi people are surly the epitome of liberation. This trip i am hoping to document some journeys, visit camps and listen to stories.  It is one of the aspects of being a photography that is truly enjoyable, having the ability to travel and document the lives of people who need to be heard...and get paid to do it!

In conjunction to this i am working on another project (the one mentioned in the rant) and I’m also looking forward to that as well. Once i get back from Gulu i should be (on the same day) travelling down this beautiful country to Kabale. It seems like i will be spanning this entire country from one end to the other in one day.  That in itself seems exciting to me. 

This week is bringing with it a mass of chaos but liberation of self.  I can’t wait to meet the challenge. I love Uganda, Africa, and Photography. It’s bringing me new and wonderful challenges.  Stick on Lauryn Hill ‘The conquering Lion’ thinking about my pedicure and how soft my feet feel...fresh for the long walk ahead of me and trust me right now it is LONG...