Photography for Beatnik Bazaar

This week I took photographs for my shop in a vintage style, for catalogues and for use online.

article on stanford

A Long Weekend in Stanford

It is only in the country that we can get to know a person or a book. ~Cyril Connolly, The Unquiet Grave, 1945

Described as the place that time forgot, Stanford village in the Overberg, is only one and a half hours from Cape Town, yet is worlds away. Its dusty roads and weathered historical cottages seen from the high road on the way to some place else, are only a misleading façade, for this quaint village evokes the poet in every weary man’s heart and stills the roaming.
Floating slowly down the river on a summers afternoon, you’ll realise why the languishing country bug is so catchy, that most weekend visitors to the small town end up leaving owning a piece of real estate.
In Stanford, afternoon teas are a treasured daily meditation and books are still favoured to television - walking is a daily activity and bicycles are the favoured means of transportation. With beautiful scenes around every corner, Stanford is certainly one of the most aesthetically pleasing towns in the Western Cape region and world class country restaurants and antique stores draw people from Cape Town through to the interior. Marianas Deli has won many awards, including ‘Best Country Restaurant,’ where the establishments namesake, Mariana Esterhuizen, not only spends most of her time producing fresh ingredients and deli items for the restaurant from her herb and vegetable garden, but also finds time to contribute monthly to Woolworth’s ‘Taste’ magazine. Marianas husband, Pieter, is the front-of-house personality who explains the sumptuous delights on offer for the day while you’re entranced by the aroma of roast lamb shank wafting through from the kitchen......Excerpt from my article on Stanford for www.sa-venues.com

Kalk Bay

Kalk Bay
Article and photography by Thaya Bedford of Beatnik Journals
Excerpt from my article on Kalk Bay:

Clutching sun faded towels and cloaked in floaty kaftans, the more adventurous residents of Kalk Bay make their daily pilgrimage down to the tidal pools that generously grace the False Bay coastline. Splashing in refreshingly cold sea water every morning could be the secret to the youth and vitality of the people in Kalk Bay, although perhaps it has something more to do with the mysterious atmosphere of abundance and relaxation that infuses its visitors..........

..........Massive facelifts to the area, prompted by the impressive multimillion Rand ‘Majestic’ residential development, have given rise to a luxury book store, ‘Kalk Bay Books,’ the exquisite ‘Majestic Spa’ and ‘Klipkantien,’ the gorgeous tapas venue overlooking the sea which hosts jazz evenings twice a week and is a Kalk Bay staple. Residents and holiday maker’s alike delight in the midsummer magic, dancing barefoot with glasses of wine in hand, under the heavy moon, as if a spell were cast upon them by the land itself. For to be a part of the essence of the village, is to be unravelled and freed, if only for an evening.