Tag: Dutch

Weekly Photo Challenge: Minimalist

Funny this Weekly Photo Challenge: Earlier today I did a few photoshoots in Hermanus and in between I pictured a guy with a wheelbarrow and while I shot this image I already knew I’d give it a minimalist look and in Black & White.

Why?

In my eyes the wheelbarrow is the essence of the South African economy. Without the wheelbarrow there would be no economy. The wheelbarrow (kruiwagen) came with the Dutch. Indigenous languages don’t have a word for wheelbarrow so they  all use  the Dutch or the English word. Earth and rocks for roads, waterworks were moved with the wheelbarrow; diamonds, gold and other precious treasures from the earth were moved with the wheelbarrow. Nowadays mining companies and farmers use excavators and lorries but in small scale operations the wheelbarrow is indispensable. And so are the guys behind the wheelbarrow. They are the ‘hidden workforce’ that keep the South African economy going.

What would South Africa be without the wheelbarrow?

 

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‘Foggy’ Adeniums on the ‘Stoep’

(‘Stoep’ = Afrikaans for ‘Verandah’. It originates from the Dutch ‘Stoep’ but the Dutch ‘Stoep’ is not a verandah; in fact it’s just a small step-up in front of a (front-)door sometimes covered by a mat to wipe your feet off… This Dutchman in South Africa has a south African ‘Stoep’ including ‘Braai’ – ‘Braai’ in our case is a giant BBQ-installation including chimney, etc. 😉 )

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Elk huis heeft z’n kruis ..

Literally translated from Dutch: ‘Every home has its cross’. The english equivalent of this expression however is ‘There is a skeleton in every cupboard’

We only have one cupboard  but there are many crosses in the house. Just to show you off a few in this gallery:

 

‘Weltevreden’ homestead

One of the few left original Cape Dutch farm homesteads in the Breede River Valley. Pity that the owning family (6 or 7 generations) has replaced the tatched roof with one of cheap maintenance free corrugated steel. ‘Weltevreden’ is Dutch/Afrikaans for ‘Content’.

WeltevredenEilandia

'Weltevreden' homestead

One of the few left original Cape Dutch farm homesteads in the Breede River Valley. Pity that the owning family (6 or 7 generations) has replaced the tatched roof with one of cheap maintenance free corrugated steel. ‘Weltevreden’ is Dutch/Afrikaans for ‘Content’.

WeltevredenEilandia

Hit the 25000 views milestone

… and that is excluding the countless views via the WordPress reader by other bloggers. Thank you all! And until so far (after a tiny bit more than 1 yr) 675 followers who faithfully follow my trials and errors. It’s not the quantity of the followers that count but the quality. I’m very, very happy. 🙂 🙂 🙂

For all of you a flower (Dutch always say it with flowers!), a Stanford sunrise and a sunset.

Today is also the day that the latest online edition of LandnSand Magazine published my photographic essay about landscape photography.

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