I’ve written a children’s book!
Published September 29, 2012 | 
It’s about a little boy named Jimmy who finds a miniature polar bear under his bed. It’s really cute, and fun, and you should read it when it comes out :)
But let me back up a bit. I actually wrote this story about four years ago. I didn’t show it to very many people. Earlier this year I did show it to some people, and they liked it; in particular the award-winning animator/illustrator Ric Capecchi liked it, and offered to illustrate it. Pretty soon the project grew into an idea for an interactive children’s book app, with original music and professional voiceover. Uh, hang on, voiceovers. In English, Spanish, Portuguese and Xhosa.
And suddenly it looked liked my little children’s story could really be something special. A sweet, heartwarming kids’ story, sure, but also an interactive literacy aid and a multilingual language learning tool.
A bigger project than I initially envisioned, but also one with more benefit to offer. More reach.
Of course a big project requires big money. Myself and a couple other people have put in everything we can, and I’ve started a campaign on crowdfunding website Indiegogo to raise the rest. It’s called The Miniature Polar Bear. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour magazine
Published March 4, 2012 | 
I spent most of February working on the Cycle Tour magazine for the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour 2012. Knowing NOTHING about cycling, I learnt a lot. The mag is distributed to Cycle Tour participants only, so if you want to read it, find a friendly cyclist! I’ll be posting more of my pics and words here shortly.
The Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour itself will take place on Sunday 11th March 2012. Cycle Tour magazine 2012 was edited by Dominique le Roux of Moonshine Media, published by Electric Ink, designed by Me Jayne Design and copy edited by moi.
Posted in Projects, Words | 
Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour, Cape Town, copy editing, Cycle Tour, magazine workWorld Press Photo Exhibition: 27 Jan – 16 Feb 2012
Published January 31, 2012 | 
The World Press Photo Exhibition 2011 (competition round 2010) is now showing at the Castle in Cape Town until 16 February 2012.
This exhibition is not for the faint of heart, with the earthquakes in Haiti and Tibet, floods in Pakistan, gang violence in Mexico and a volcanic eruption in Indonesia. But these global tragedies are offset by other stories: Central Africa’s only symphony orchestra in Kinshasa, DRC, nomadic cinemas visiting remote villages in India, female freestyle wrestlers in Bolivia and couchsurfers in New York.
These are not your average news photographs, these are the kind you want to pay attention to. Don’t rush; read the blurbs. Each photograph or photo set tells a story – and tells it masterfully. Each one deserves a room. My only quibble would be that this exhibition has them all a little close together.
World Press Photo is a non-profit based in Amsterdam that supports and promotes the work of professional press photographers internationally. Each year, three prizes are awarded in each of nine categories, and the resulting exhibition travels the world.
In 2011, South African Jodi Bieber won World Press Photo of the year for her photograph of Bibi Aisha, an Afghan woman disfigured as retribution for fleeing her husband’s house in the Oruzgan province of Afghanistan. The now world-famous photograph has been featured on the cover of Time magazine, and Aisha has become something of a success-story.
But Bieber is not the only South African winner in 2011. Mike Hutchings won the first prize in the Sports singles category for his photo capturing the Netherlands’ Demy de Zeeuw – accidentally – kicking Uruguay’s Martin Caceres in the face during a 2010 World Cup semi-final. And Thomas P Peschak won first prize in the Nature singles category for his photo of a Cape Gannet coming in to land on Malgas Island.
Three firsts is not bad for our local photographers considering that the 2011 competition received a total of 108 059 photographs from 5 691 photographers spanning 125 countries!
If honouring our local winners is not enough to get you down there, then remember that this annual exhibition doesn’t always make it to South Africa: the last time was in 2007, before that 2003. It also comes with a series of talks, walkabouts and masterclasses, which are fast filling up. For more info on these, contact Jenny Altshuler on sacentrphoto@iafrica.com or 082 935 5522.
The exhibition opened on 27 January and runs until 16 February at the Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town.
Black Tuesday: The passing of the ‘secrecy bill’
Published November 22, 2011 | 
These images are from protests in Cape Town, South Africa, against the Protection of State Information Bill that was passed in Parliament today. I don’t have many words today. Today is Black Tuesday.
Protesters manage to lower two of the four South African flags outside Parliament before police arrive. The bill is passed, the flags fly high. What now?
Want to know more? Mail and Guardian Online and Business Day have published excellent articles on the ‘secrecy bill’.
Walking on Walls with Mak1One
Published November 16, 2011 | 
Still day four of Creative Week Cape Town 2011 and something a little different: a graffiti walk-and-talk-about in The Fringe with Cape Town artist Mak1One.
All images on this site by Sarah Scott are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Find me