Click Expand and get involved in “Self-Made”

Credits:
Photographer: Sam Norval, Assistant Photographer: Jakub Fulfin
Stylist: Justin Jurd, Assistant Stylist: Bianca van Rensburg
Hair and Makeup: Talia Barak
Models: Katerina @ M1 Models, Daniela @ Base Models

With one small seed editor-in-chief Giuseppe Russo as art director and photographer Stephen Greeff working his magic behind the lens, models were transformed into robotic femmes fatales in a plot of high drama and thrill.

Click Expand for the shoot and behind-the-scenes video
 

Click Expand for the fashion video and shoot
 

Credits:
Cast: Matt Taylor
Photographer: Sam Norval
Art Director: one small seed founder/editor-in-chief Giuseppe Russo

Models: donnet- ice models
agnes-ice models
ellenie-ice models

Conceptually, it would feature an underground hedonistic den of iniquity that would symbolise the darker side of urban living. Behind the scenes were oiled-up models and lacquered lips as a storm brewed overhead and a caged Rottweiler threatened to break loose into the grungy mechanic’s workshop.

Click Expand for the behind-the-scenes fashion video and full shoot
 

Click Expand for the behind-the-scenes fashion video and shoot
 

Credits:
Photography: Samnorval.com
Stylists: Cally Palmer @ Max Models
Make-up: Sandy Seale @ Six Love
Photographers Assistants: Albert Brun & Jade Van Der Spuy
Production, concept & Art direction: Lauren Livsey @ Rock paper Scissors-Theory
Models: Bryce @ Ice Models, Celeste @ Ice Models & Nugget

Making use of our digital magazine features, we have been able to breathe new life to previous print content – and everything has truly come together, just how we always envisioned! Please take your time to go through this magazine (all at once or a little bit each day) as a lot of work went into producing every edition and every page, since we first launched in 2005. This issue is a superlative balance of content, comprising of traditional and contemporary art, photography, fashion editorials, exclusive interviews, videos, feature articles, music, and the best of one small seed TV.
 
So, without further ado…
 

 
Follow us on:

Facebook
Twitter: @onesmallseedSA
onesmallseed.net

 
Lose yourself in the intricate and abstract photography of Oliver Barnett in his article featured in the magazine, entitled ‘Organic Surrealism’
 
 
 

CLICK HERE to check out the full one small seed magazine 26 | digital 01, in partnership PUMA..
 
 

Every action is creative and every passionate action is art

– Matthew Stone (I.D. Magazine)

So, for every passionate action there should be a passionate reaction, right? From planting a seed to forming a movement, here’s a look back at first thoughts on one small seed, first encounters with the magazine and some first ‘creative seeds’ by singer/songwriter Lindiwe Suttle, zef rapper Jack Parow and photographer Sam Norval as part of the Vodafone Firsts campaign, which encourages people to do things for the first time.

one small seed logo Ⓒ Giuseppe Russo

When one small seed was first ‘sowed’ by founder/editor-in-chief Giuseppe Russo, the idea was to encourage a South African creative movement that could compete with the world. Nine years on, it’s grown into a creative network (onesmallseed.net), various online platforms – including two new initiatives called ‘Cult of Self’ and ‘We Love Sexy’ – and we’re excited to re-launch as a digital magazine.

Blood, sweat and tears went into nourishing the growth of this ‘diversely branched tree’, yet its seed would never have sprouted without the ground-breaking content contributed by artists, photographers, models, musicians, architects, designers, writers or – as the umbrella term neatly summarises – ‘creatives’. The Vodafone Firsts campaign thus seemed an ideal opportunity for us to touch base with some of ‘the creative influencers’ who have featured in past issues. Lindiwe Suttle, Jack Parow and Sam Norval shared their ‘one small seed firsts’, ‘creative firsts’ and current projects that might inspire further firsts for aspiring creatives.

LINDIWE SUTTLE – Singer/Songwriter

Lindiwe Suttle – Image Ⓒ Diane Ducruet

Lindiwe Suttle’s ‘first’ with one small seed goes all the way back to the first issue – that’s when she saw the magazine for the first time and found it ‘immediately intriguing’. In issue 02, she was featured in it and, according to her, it was the first shoot she did before launching her music career. ‘It inspired me to make change through my art. It was such a refreshing magazine to have in SA because, from the start, it focused on artists that were true artists – non-conformist artists who didn’t follow any rules,’ she says.

Produced in Berlin by Ivan Gregoriev and mastered by Dave Clutch (Alicia Keys, John Legend, Foo Fighters) in New York, her solo debut Kamikaze Art just won her ‘Songwriter of the Year’ and ‘Best Female Artist and Composer/co-composer’ at The Wawela Music Awards 2014. In the same vein, but different creative field, as her talk show star mother Felicia Mabuza-Suttle, she’s an ambitioned young lady ready to take up any challenge thrown her way. Currently, she’s working on Enough (Set Us Free), a girls’ and women’s rights campaign that makes use of a song she wrote the lyrics for, and her partner – German rock legend Marius Mueller-Westernhagen – composed. ‘I hope it inspires other artists to use their music to speak out for others that have no voice’.

It was an honour to be in the magazine. I loved that they never chose the most popular artists like other magazines. They made you aware of art that might not have had the chance to shine were it not for one small seed – art that the underground scene knew and not the masses. I’m so proud that the publication is still producing great work. Viva one small seed, viva art!!! – Lindiwe Suttle

JACK PAROW – Zef Rapper

Jack Parow – Image Ⓒ Wouter du Toit

Jack Parow is known for his pep-store broek style and general anti-coolness. So uncool that – according to his recent single ‘Bloubek’ – ‘he eats fucking hipsters and shits out fixie bikes’. Cool enough, however, for sexy swimsuit model girlfriend Jenna Pietersen, he somehow made it from Boerewors curtain-protected Bellville to dangerously trendy Cape Town – he says it’s ‘overpopulated by the hip graphic design crowd’.

His first with one small seed was ‘somewhere like Mr. Pickwicks’ and – according to him – it caused him ‘great social anxiety and overall discomfort because people originally from Joburg or some other country like Italy were acting like they’re Capetonian’. Once his nervousness was overcome, he was inspired to write ‘Cooler as Ekke’, which further ‘established his feelings on what he thought about one small seed and all the ‘cool’ people’. So much that he references the mag in the song. ‘Jy dink jy’s cooler as ek, omdat jy die nuwe issue van one small seed het.’ Shortly after its release he was featured in issue 18 of one small seed magazine.

Nag van die Lang Pette (2014), available at South African music stores now, is his most recent project. He worked very hard on this album so he hopes that it’ll inspire more people to work hard for the first time. Cool or uncool – his rhymes will continue to piss off conservative mense due to the raw wit, side-splitting humour and (true!?) portrayal of culture. Jack Parow is SA’s ‘zef darling’ and will be in the Rainbow Nation’s hearts forever.

It (one small seed) triggered the first time I really felt, fuck, people are idiots and shit, trying to follow the trend doesn’t pay off… Btw, is one small seed still being printed or do they give it away at the robots (traffic lights for the international people who will obviously never read this) like those little joke things that you get if you tip the beggar? – Jack Parow

SAM NORVAL – Photographer

Images Ⓒ Sam Norval

Photographer Sam Norval lives in New York and has photographed celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, Flea, Norah Jones, Billy Joel and B.B. King. Yet he says that the first time he was allowed to explore his own style was when he did his first shoot, after he got back home to South Africa, for one small seed. Deep into that Darkness Peering… for issue 13 was an homage to Tim Burton that perfectly accentuated Sam’s ‘dark and moody style’. According to him it was the first time ‘I was really allowed to explore that genre. I was allowed to be as creative as I wanted to be’. Further ‘photography firsts’ were to follow as he shot:

Just for Kicks for Issue 14

It was a first for me to shoot six girls in one editorial, it was a first for me to shoot on a construction site and it was a first for me to shoot in 40 degrees heat. It was a first for me because I was able to explore different styles.

Sam Norval house party just for kicks from one small seed on Vimeo.

South Beach Featuring Bryce Thompson for Issue 17

It was a first because we played on people’s perceptions of metrosexuality, homosexuality and heterosexuality. Taking somebody out of that comfort zone and really exploring that space with them – that was something unique and something first.

South Beach Fashion Shoot from one small seed on Vimeo.

The Self-Made Shoot for Issue 23

It was also a first in a sense because I was exploring very new lighting, a very new concept – it was very self-reflecting I think. The subject matter, how we were achieving it – it was all kinda a first for me. The lighting was very bright, it was very washed out, it was very clean as opposed to my typical work, which tends to be a bit more dark and moody.

Self-Made Shoot from one small seed on Vimeo.

Right now, Sam is working on yet another first. It’s a big project for VH1 for which he’s shooting a big cross-section of hip-hop artists, such as Lil John, Waka Flocka, Future, Russell Simmons and many more. ‘It’s also a first for me because we’re looking to make a book out of it. It’s really really exciting,’ he explains.

one small seed was the first publication to allow budding talent to be a part of the new voice of creativity in South Africa. I think that’s the most important legacy that one small seed has had. If you’re an aspiring artist or creative, you have an outlet, you have a vehicle to really explore your creativity and are encouraged to do so. It was the first publication to allow its readers to submit. – Sam Norval

Image Ⓒ Sam Norval

Image Ⓒ Sam Norval

The Butterfly Effect has been inspiration for endless pop culture storytelling – such as the 2004 movie with Ashton Kutcher of the same name or 1985’s Brazil by Terry Gilliam – but more often it’s used to explain what appears inexplicable. As most of us know, the theory states that a subtle action can cause a catastrophe. Creativity, it seems, works under similar principles. A simple thought, a fleeting comment, a blatant discovery – even a mistake – can trigger the most ground-breaking ideas. Therefore, as creatives, we need a platform to constantly inspire and be inspired.

In South Africa, one small seed set out to do exactly this. As Giuseppe Russo said in issue 16, ‘The seed, which means the vision to believe in yourself and in who you are, had to be planted in South Africa first.’ Today ‘the South African creative movement’ – with Cape Town being Design Capital 2014, major international music festivals such as Sónar gracing our shores and more and more SA artists present across the globe – is truly ready to compete with the world. It’s no longer ‘creativity in a wheelchair’ that needs help up the success stairs, SA is up on its legs and ready to conquer. If all goes well Cape Town and Joburg will soon be mentioned in the same breath as New York, London and Berlin, so there’s no longer a need to focus on one country specifically. Our re-launch as a digital magazine is about to kick-off and we’re now no longer presenting South Africa to the world, but the world (South Africa being a part of it) to the world.

When was the first time you came across one small seed?

Leave a comment below or tweet @onesmallseedSA and @VodafoneFirsts to share your #first!

Special thanks to Lindiwe Suttle, Jack Parow and Sam Norval for their great work and getting back to us so quickly! Further influencers who featured in one small seed are, for example, Dominic Peters of Goldfish, Bryce Thompson, Sean Metelerkamp, Andreas Waldschuetz, Lungelo, Dylan Culhane, Anton Kannemeyer, Spoek Mathambo, Pieter Hugo, Hendrik Vermeulen and JD, Teargas or The Blackheart Gang. Watch out for a Part II!

Words: Christine Hogg

Image Ⓒ Sam Norval

Image Ⓒ Sam Norval

For more ‘first times’ on one small seed click here

I wanted to celebrate exciting modern women – the strength of it, the fun of it, the flavour of it (Mathambo)

Featured on the musician, rapper and producer’s recent mixtape, Escape from ‘85, Awufuni is Mathambo’s take on the song of the same name by an old school South African girl group from the 60s, Izintombi Zesi Manje Manje (‘Women of the now’).

‘A group of five girls form a futuristic gang, in a surreal way,’ says Becatti of the core creative concept of the video.

‘There’s a main storyline where Spoek is on a date with this girl and she leads him into this scrapyard. He eventually tries to escape but she chases him and the girls then tie him up and perform this ritualistic dance around him.’

In creating the storyboard, Becatti added his vision to Spoek’s inspiration for the video. The two had been looking for an opportunity to work together since meeting earlier in 2013. ‘When the Diesel+EDUN’s Studio Africa project came along, Spoek and I knew the perfect opportunity had presented itself,’ comments Becatti.

Creating Awufuni was a multinational effort that was spearheaded by VICE Magazine on behalf of Diesel+EDUN. Edun, a clothing label founded by Bono’s wife, Ali Hewson, has worked with Diesel on a two-season clothing collection with the most recent one being a 35-piece denim focused collection entirely manufactured in Africa with CCI cotton from Uganda.

The video’s cross-continental creative collaboration stretched from Italy (Diesel) to London (Vice), New York (Edun), Sweden (where Mathambo lives) and Johannesburg, where Becatti and Picture Tree are located.

Shot in a scrapyard in the south of Johannnesburg, Awufuni showcases some amazing South Africa talent, including four professional dancers – Robyn Brophy, Melissa Flerangile, Sne Mbatha and Tebogo Ribane. Street casting in Soweto also unearthed a major new talent in schoolgirl, Amanda Magi who plays the main girl gang member and ‘cat lady’.

Mathambo on Magi’s performance in the video:

‘She has something about her – an electricity. I’m excited for her to get her chance to do what she does best’

The Becatti-helmed Awufuni is part of the second season of Diesel and Edun’s Studio Africa. The Autumn/Winter 2013 initiative sees Studio Africa champion three African musicians – Spoek, Faarrow and Olugbuenga.

Behind-the-scenes video:

On a technical note.

The DOP on Awufuni was David Pienaar and the video was shot mostly on Steadicam (Chris Vermaak) to minimize time between set-ups. The use of the Steadicam also allowed for quick dynamic movements, and equally quick changes as the camera is rolling. ‘Because there were so many set-ups to be nailed in a 12-hour period, this seemed the most logical choice,’ comments Becatti. The shoot day was on the second shortest day of the year in terms of daylight hours, and so it was exceptionally challenging to pull of, and the time constraints were very tight.’ The video was shot on RED Epic, using Cooke S4 mini’s, the Allura Zoom lens, and for the super wide shots, the Nikkor 8mm Fish-eye. The choice was made to shoot in 1:2.39 aspect ratio for its cinematic qualities, given the narrative aspect.

Crew members included:

Director Fausto Becatti
Art Director Adi Koen
Make-up Amy Anstey
Wardrobe Samantha Constable
Producer Scott Njumbuxa
Executive Producer Gary King
Title Design Caryn Oberholzer
Sound Design Freqncy (Nathi Luthango & Motsi Tekateka
Edit & Grade Warwick Allan @ Mushroom Media

Spoek and Fausto

Relevant Links:

http://www.studioafrica.tumblr.com
http://www.diesel.com/diesel+edun
https://twitter.com/studio_africa
http://www.spoekmathambo.com/

Interview with Spoek Mathambo from one small seed on Vimeo

photo: Nelis Botha

The theme, ‘All Originals’, reflects the very nature of the Originals brand and was incorporated into all elements of the project: from the selection of pieces, photography and video style, even down to the recruitment and selection of the models used in the show and campaign collateral.

In order to engage original influencers to act as models, a unique casting call was put out, but for models that weren’t already signed, established or trained as such. The casting call was held at www.area3.co.za in a single day and all potentials were shot in the pieces that they would eventually wear at the fashion show and showcase in campaign collateral – it was an original experience.

Watch a video featuring the original models and selected pieces from the collection below:

All Originals | Spring Summer ’13 | AREA3 | 20 August 2013 from AREA3 on Vimeo.

The subsequent exhibition has been designed to allow people a chance to witness the project in a longer-lasting format, featuring life-size prints of the models and campaign with Q&A’s of each model involved, video projections from the show and the afro-electric sounds of Markus Wormstorm (who musically steered the evening) as well as, of course, featured adidas Originals pieces from the show.

Some of the signature items as well as imagery and video footage from the show will be exhibited in AREA3 from Tuesday, 20 August until Sunday, 22 September and will be open to the public.

Exhibition details

Open from Tuesday, 20 August 2013 to Sunday, 22 September 2013
AREA3, 20 Kruger Street, the Maboneng Precinct, Johannesburg East
AREA3 is open from 10h00 to 16h00
Tuesday to Sunday

Links:

www.area3.co.za
Follow @adidasZA #AREA3 #adidasOriginals
photography: Nelis Botha

photo: Nelis Botha

photo: Nelis Botha

photo: Nelis Botha

photo: Nelis Botha

photo: Nelis Botha