Torn Between Two Realities

Photograph by Jessica Keller

I had the opportunity to spend some time in the Transkei last April.

That is one of my favorite images of my Transkei trip and I would like to share my view on the image. What message I want to bring across with my picture? What it makes me feel? Why I chose to convert it into black and white?

That lady looked very tired, exhausted of doing the same thing every day and I can see sadness in her eyes. If you look at her carefully there is still a glimpse of hope and strength. She has got an eagerness to get to work and to carry on with her daily life. The white cream on her face should probably protect her from the African sun, is that the real reason? 

Living in the Transkei is not easy and hard work. Women in the community get up early and cutting grass with a penga to make some money for the family waiting at home. Life can be very hard in these little villages, most of the women are stuck with a useless husband who think it is better to drink life away. They will take all the abuse and are left with no voice to raise their issues. They will walk tall and will never give up, because they are left with no other choice. They accept and carry on. 

Was the white cream on her face really just a protection for the hot sun? Or does it give the feeling of being someone else at work? Maybe she can hide her true face and the harsh reality.

The white cream might helps to hide all the sorrows that are showing on her face. She gets a break for a couple of hours from the reality at home. I was amazed how happy she was to be working, laughing with her friends, but didn't stop for one-second cutting the grass. It almost seemed like that my camera gave her the permission to look how she really felt. She didn't need to act happy anymore, she wanted me to see that she is waiting for a break. A person can look happy, act happy, but one never knows what is truly going on inside of someone's heart. 

The colors and the patterns the cream created on her face are matching the wall in the background. She almost blends into the wall... An other symbolic meaning of wanting to hide, keeping your secret and not wanting to be seen.

I converted the image into black and white because we live in a world where everything is extreme. People often just see black or white, but I wonder where have the grays disappeared to?

How And Where I Live

The last few years I was wondering how and where I live. I was asking the question over and over again where is my home and where am I the happiest. People would always tell me your home is where your heart is. Where do I belong and what is real?

I grew up in Switzerland, but left Europe with 21 and started a new adventure in South Africa.

How and where I live is very difficult to tell. I'm someone who will take every challenge, try to get as much out of a place as possible. I'm scared to call something just yet home, because as soon as I do there will be goodbyes again. Home is within me. How I live is who I'm.

I photographed existing photos through physical barriers. I photographed them underwater, covered in oil, salt or paint and in this was give commentary on negation of memory.

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

A Heart For Wildlife

In the past few days I had been reflecting on my time spent in Zambia, where I came upon a story which really made me think about the cruelty man has on nature.
We have so little space left on this planet for our wildlife that it breaks my heart when I experience cruelty at this level.

Jonathan was prepared to give me his story about a female elephant which he took care of for 4 days and experienced a hard but in a way still beautiful time...

Jonathan:" At 04:33 in the morning I heard gun shots, I can't remember where I leave my phone sometimes but remember the exact time I heard those shots, something wasn't right about the shots I heard, they were not of a poacher shooting for food but shooting under distress.

After gathering up the scouts we went trekking, trekking to find the poachers and to assess the damage done. What we found infuriated me that people,(human beings) can be so cruel, but that doesn't surprise me. We found a young female elephant in her late teens or early twenties wounded by two types of weapons, a high powered rifle and a home made shot gun.

She was shot in her face, her right side of her body and the right back leg.
The shot gun was fired twice to my count to a charging elephant protecting her 2 month old baby.
Once in her face and when she turned to run away once on her side but it didn't stop there. They went on and shot her again while she was running away in the hind leg with an even deadlier weapon a high powered rifle.

She was seriously injured an injury which would have killed her slowly through weeks of pain while infection took place.The herd ran and left her behind in all the panic and distress of such a violent attack.

When we found her the logical thing to do was to shoot her but I couldn't be certain at that time of the damage, so I got online with the vet we knew and she told me that if I could fly her in she could patch up the injuries except if the elephants bone in her back leg had been smashed by the bullet, so I needed to make sure. But how do you get close to an elephant thats just been wounded, you don't except through love. I had sat with her for 2 days bringing her food and water trying to get close enough to assess the damage without stressing her out further and then the game started.

The game was called throwing sticks, she through a stick at me probably to get rid of me but it was a gentle throw not aggressive at all and when I through it back she responded by throwing it back to me, landing perfectly in my lap, I spoke to her throughout the time we spent together and got very little sleep over the next 4 days, on the fourth day magic happened she allowed me to touch her and check her leg and when I had seen the bullet had not come out the other side, I knew it was bad but then my fears were answered once she tried to step on her leg and I heard the crunch of bone.

In the end of my time with this beautiful new mother, we had to shoot her for there was nothing else we could of done for her. My heart broke at what happened, I had known this herd of elephant well, followed them for 3 moths before the incident and to me it was like loosing a friend."

Jont and his ele!

Lesotho

Lesotho, which roughly translates into the land of the people who speak Sesotho. I was finally here and was able to spend a couple of days in this gorgeous 30 000 square km country with my photography friends. A country high up in the Drakensberg mountains completely surrounded by South Africa.

Lesotho what a beautiful place on earth with incredible friendly and open people. People always fascinated me, the different facial expressions, different attitude, different views on life and that we as photographers manage sometimes to capture the reality in the human eye. It was an awesome experience to photograph in Lesotho among the community and to capture the raw truth.

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Hope

The last couple of days I spent in the Transkei with amazing people that are out there to help the poor and needy. We had the privilege to share some precious moments with little children in need. What beautiful creatures they are... I loved every second of this trip. It made me think of life.  A little girl in particular caught my attention. She was beautiful with big dark eyes, searching for love and attention, but filled with so much anger.

One of my goals as a photographer is always to capture a picture that is worth a thousands words. My aim is to produce direct, truthful and bold images that tell the stories for those who have no voice. As a documentary photographer I will have many people seeing through my eyes and expecting to see the truth.

The group I joined on that adventure are doing a really great job for pointing out the people living below the bottom line of poverty, for raising awareness about educational and child labour issues. I’m so grateful that I was able to share the experience with the team.

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Some roads aren't meant to be travelled alone.

A Movie on Awareness For A Project

The human race is about to destroy a beautiful continent. Africa's wildlife is in danger... Lots of people are sitting back, getting upset, but feeling helpless... It seems like a devils circle...
My project was about making a 2min video. I was thinking what I can chose for a social commentary. spending a view month at Lake Tanganyika in Zambia I experienced what it means when the society needs to kill wildlife for food. It is a harsh reality...
My short movie is about men who stand up for wildlife and would do anything to stop the killing... Tourism enjoy magnificent sightings during the day, but as soon as the sun disappears at the horizon the human race is out there to kill and destroy. How far will it go? will the next generation still be able to enjoy Africa as it used to be? or will the photographs and film footage be the only evidence? what can we do? i have got huge respect for people as Jonathan Colin who fight for justice and protection. Filming behind a big fence should show that our wildlife might only be safe behind bars... Is that the future we seeking for? Or who should actually be behind bars?

Life is the only game with the sole purpose of learning the rules.

Nick Brandt

Life is harsh sometimes and it feels like I'm not getting anywhere at the moment.

I would love to switch off, even if it is just for a split second and drift into a world where everything seems to be beautiful.

Nick Brandt gave me the chance to dream for a while. His work is outstanding. He captures stunning photographs of the nature and the wildlife. Some of his photographs are unreal and let you forget the real world for a moment. What an amazing photographer he is... That would be one of my dreams... Living in the bush for a while, experiencing the peace and quiet and capture special, different shots of wildlife and nature.

Please go and check out his website: www.nickbrandt.com. You won't regret it...:)

 http://www.nickbrandt.com/

Documentary Photography

One of my biggest inspirations has always been photography's ability to stop time and reveal what the naked eye cannot see. A photo can speak louder than words.

I have had an emotional roller-coaster ride with certain aspects of my life, especially since moving to South Africa from Switzerland and that is one of the reasons for my great passion for documentary photography.

Nothing brings me greater joy than photographing people for who they are. Documentary photography captures the reality, the truth and one image can change the world.

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.