Blog Archives
Lana of Lanalou Style visits The Tabloid
“Today we have the absolute pleasure of featuring as our guest blogger, none other than Cape Town’s own talented Lana Kenney. When we here at the Design Monarchy decided that we want to include a blog into our daily life as an interior design company, we naturally jumped onto the net to begin following other bloggers just to become part of this community. Lanalou Style was one of the first blogs that really caught our eye. I remember both Marica and I were so taken with this blog. And being “Proudly South African” – the fact that she is a Cape Townian was a bonus. Over the months of following her regular posts, I have so come to appreciate her talent as a photographer as well – all the images below are her own. Also, I am not known for my fashion sense, but thanks to Lana’s fashion posts, I have developed a better understanding of what it takes to put clothes together.
So, lets hear the drum roll folks – here’s Lana…”
Hi there, this is Lana from Lanalou Style and I’m delighted to be here on The Design Tabloid today. Thanks so much for inviting me over, Rose and Marica!
I started blogging as a way to keep busy during quiet times at work and as a creative outlet. Very quickly though, blogging became rather addictive and a way of life! The inspiration available online and blogging community is just incredible.
These days what I enjoy most about blogging is being able to discover great places in Cape Town and share these with my readers. I love taking photos of places and things that catch my eye whether it be a boutique, café, garden or Cape Town’s eccentricities. Being able to inspire my readers, both local and international, to discover Cape Town’s beauty makes me happy!
These are just a few pics from some of my travels around and about Cape Town, I hope you enjoy and that they inspire you to discover more of our amazing city!
Be sure to visit & subscribe to Lana’s AWESOME blog: Lanalou Style
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Kate van Onselen Photography
Meet Joburg photographer, Kate van Onselen – she’s got an excellent eye for a good frame and brings a little enchantment and whimsical flair to each of her shots. Her blog and website is filled with pages of beautiful, inspirational photography – we just had to feature her and find out a little more…
Q: How did you get into photography?
A: I have always been an artsy person, studying fine art throughout school and university so photography has always been something that I have been exposed to and interested in. It was more the theory that got me interested at first, I guess because we studied the masters and founders and understanding their motive and motivations got me interested in using photography as a form of expression. I first properly learned film photography at school and continued with it through to university, but that was very much experimental and not conscious. The first time I realised I wanted to take photography more seriously, was when I was in London in 2006.
Q: Do you have a particular style and if so could you describe it?
A: I would say my style is honest and creative. I aim to show a different perspective with a high fashion approach and ultimately create images that have narrative. I wouldn’t say I follow trends in a conscious way, but obviously they influence my preferences at any time.
Q: What sort of services do you offer?
A: I am a photographer and a graphic designer, I like that there is variance in my creative space. Photography is my passion, if you met me you would know what I mean. So I will consider any creative or photography project that comes my way.
Q: What is your favoured subject matter?
A: I love photographing people, there’s something about capturing a moments emotion that is … something similar to addictive to me. In terms of ‘people genre’, I love fashion and editorial spreads (for the image narrative obviously), portraiture and weddings etc.
Q: What inspires you?
A: Lots of things: Fashion, interior décor/ design, Europe, travel, life, my friends and family, other artists and photographers: Annie Leibovitz, James Nachtwey, Anna Wolf, Nirrimi Hakanson, locally Sam Maber, Jacqui Bruniquel, Alix Rose Cowie and Amy Scheepers.
Q: How would you describe your life’s philosophy?
A: I try to live by one idea mainly, which is “Life is right now”. i.e live for right now, be happy right now, be the person you want to be right now, work toward what makes you and others happy right now, etc.
Q: What is next to your bedside pedestal at the moment?
A: There’s a lot at the moment …my lamp (I love it – my dad made the wooden base), my glasses case, my watch, my blackberry, a box of tissues, The Bang Bang Club, Eat Pray Love (both half read… seen both movies before I read the books now that I think of it), a pile of magazines (Harpers Bazaar, Vogue, Jalouse, Marie Claire, Elle Decoration, Ideas Magazine) and a glass of water …
Q: Could you share your Secret Indulgence with us?
A: I’m not very good at being secret with anything… my Elle Decoration subscription, browsing the web (endlessly) for inspiration and shopping at flea markets and second hand shops for unique vintage finds.
Q: In five years time …
A: I am sure that I will look back and wonder where the last five years went.
Please do yourself a favour and check out Kate’s lovely blog: here and her website: here
You can also find this talented lady on Facebook and Twitter.
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Abigail K Captures Precious Moments
By now you would surely have noticed that we like photography as an art form what with all the photographers we have recently featured.
Well here we are again, with yet another talented lady to profile – allow me to introduce to you, the lovely Abigail Klopper.
Abigail is such a charming person and I guess that makes it easier for her to skilfully capture the true essence of a person, recording the precious moments for all time. She is able to artfully present something so personal and unique in her photography.
Even images of inanimate objects such as a candelabra you could effortless use as an art piece in your space.
Enjoy the pieces of her life she shares with us now…
Q: How did you get into photography?
A: My dad is an avid hobbyist and growing up, he always had his camera on holiday trips and special events. When my husband and I got together, we did lots of travelling ourselves and we started snapping away on holiday to remember our memories. The hobby soon turned into a passion and naturally progressed into something that I wanted to do for other people.
Q: Do you have a particular style and if so could you describe it?
A: The styles of my shoots are dictated by the client and the purpose of the shoot. If I had to restrict myself to a particular style, I suppose I’d say it borders on the contemporary.
Q: What sort of services do you offer?
A: I specialise in weddings, corporate and private events and corporate and private portraits.
Q: What is your favoured subject matter?
A: Weddings, children and babies.
Q: What inspires you?
A: Cape Town inspires me! I love being a photographer in Cape Town because it’s such a beautiful city with so many beautiful backdrops filled with beautiful people.
Q: How would you describe your life’s philosophy?
A: I’m a ‘glass-half-full’ kinda girl. I always try to be positive and believe that in any situation, as in life, what we put in is what we get out.
Q: What is next to your bedside pedestal at the moment?
A: A Photo of my husband and I and my i-pod
Q: Could you share your Secret Indulgence with us?
A: Late morning lie-ins, E! Channel and loud 80’s music!
Q: In five years time …
A: I’ll be 5 years wiser, 5 years more successful and with 5 more years to be grateful for.
Pay a visit to Abigail’s website for more: www.abigailk.co.za
And if you have that special occasion you would like her to capture and interpret for you, then drop her line: info@abigailk.co.za
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Through The Lens Of Sally Wellbeloved
During the time that I have worked in the interiors profession, I have met all manner of people who ply their artistic trade, services and products, touching the various genres of design.
Meet Sally Wellbeloved (what a generous name) who came across our path during the course of last year. I am so impressed with her style of work as well as her philosophy of life. She is such an energetic person and such a pleasure to be around, that we thought we would share our experience of Sally with you, via a Q & A time, as well as opening some of the pages of her portfolio with you.
I urge you to pay particular attention to her ’abstract’ images. They are seriously mind-boggling. I have no idea how she achieves that effect, but it works for me. It has once again ignited a flame of interest in the abstract works.
Q: How did you get into photography?
A: I’d always loved photography as a child, and it then became a ‘buried passion’ as I grew up and got busy with other things. When I was in my late 20’s I re-ignited my passion for photography and after won a camera in a competition I began to take it seriously and soon after that I left the corporate world and worked with an aerial photographer where I learned the ropes, and then I took the bold step to launch my own photography business!
Q: Do you have a particular style and if so could you describe it?
A: I do have a style with my artistic photographic works – I love to take natural scenes and work them into muted colour tones, it creates a slightly dreamy and surreal feeling which I just love. When it comes to my commercial shooting, I keep my images bold, crisp and clean.
Q: What sort of services do you offer?
A: Currently I am offering a fairly wide range of photographic services. I specialise in buildings and interiors, doing work mostly for architects, interior decorators, property developers and real estate agencies. In addition I do portraits and product work in studio which I enjoy, as well as events, weddings and documentary projects which can be very challenging but a great way to stretch and grow my skill-set!
Q: What is your favoured subject matter?
A: Buildings, animals and landscapes
Q: What inspires you?
A: Tough question as there is so much out there that inspiring, there are so many talented photographers in South Africa at the moment! I draw a lot from other artistic landscape and wildlife photographers like Lambro and Caroline Gibello….
Q: How would you describe your life’s philosophy?
A: My philosophy is simple – life is here for us to enjoy. We spend so much time worrying and stressing, and what we need to do, as much as we can, is to release that – stop trying to control what we cannot ever control and spend more time in trust, faith and joy. Life is a celebration, each and every moment of it, when you allow yourself to truly enjoy who you are and what is possible!
Q: What is next to your bedside pedestal at the moment?
A: A large assorted pile of books!
Q: Could you share your Secret Indulgence with us?
A: Raw chocolate and buckwheaties…. guilt free and delicious!!
Q: In five years time …
A: I intend to have a fine art and canvas printing shop in the Southern Suburbs with staff so that I can free up my time to travel and focus more on artistic photography, as well as giving talks to inspire and empower women and teenagers - if I can do it, then anybody can!
Find Sally’s website: here. You can also check her out on CynaminArt – she offers a wide variety of services including canvas printing (the facility to have one’s own photos printed unto canvas is quite useful); framing; and a collection of fine artists’ and photographers’ work can also be purchased through CynaminArt.
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New Vintage
By Marica
You may recall the Cara Saven‘s beautiful Aqua Floral photographic series we featured on The Tabloid a few months back, well the wonderfully talented lady has done it again…
We were quite excited when Cara mailed us her latest series aptly named “Vintage”. The image range consist of various funky vintage & retro objects – my favourite is the old squash rackets. Cara has once again managed to produce something exceptionally beautiful and in keep with the nostalgia, vintage and up-cycling trend that is currently doing the rounds. Brava Cara!
Here is a quick preview of the series, for the whole range please check out Cara’s website: here.
