I See Red by Joanne Peltz

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We Love Sexy will explore the portraits, the movements and the moments of a diverse, inspiring group of individuals. From the professional to the amateur photographer, from the model to the make-up artist, and from the people we call friends and brothers… everyone is a part of We Love Sexy, whether it be directly or indirectly. We Love Sexy showcases ‘sexy’ photography in all its forms: from the curve of a calf to an honest smile, from the glamour of haute couture to infectious free-spirited fun, and from the urban underground to the latest runway show.

image: Daniel Van Flymen

image: Lindie Jacobs

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

 
There are three ways to share your own interpretation of ‘sexy':

1) Become a member (if you aren’t already!) on onesmallseed.net and upload your image making sure you use the hash tag #welovesexy in the ‘Tags’ box (see image below). If you have a full shoot you would like to submit, simply create an Album called We Love Sexy. (use the hash tag for all the photos in the album too!)

2) Like the We Love Sexy Facebook page and tag the page in any album/image you upload to Facebook that is content-relevant.

3) Email your submission/s to welovesexymag[at]gmail[dot]com

4) You can also upload images on Twitter (tag @WeLoveSexyMag) and via Instagram! Just make sure you always use the hashtag #welovesexy

image: Sivan Miller

image: ‘Day 22′ by Lindie Jacobs

THE COMPETITION & DIGITAL MAGAZINE

 
There are three one small seed magazine packages (Issue 02 – Issue 25) up for grabs, and since we are focussing on the digital realm it means that these magazines are now collectables! To enter, you simply need to submit your best images via any of the methods mentioned above. The three most Liked images on the We Love Sexy Facebook page will get awarded the awesome package… that’s nearly 10 kg’s of amazing content and design that you can keep forever!

Not only do you stand the chance of winning a one small seed box set (and other prizes TBA), but every month there will be a digital magazine showcasing up to 100 of the best submissions! So, what are you waiting for?

IMPORTANT LINKS

 
Keep posted with news by following We Love Sexy on:

onesmallseed.net
Facebook
Twitter
PInterest

image: Jono Nienaber

all images taken from onesmallseed.net

Enjoy our selection for April!

Week 04

‘Tavia’ by Rico Quintas

‘Andi’ by Sven Kristian

‘A Forest Adventure’ by Logan Lopata

‘Fog over Cape Town’ by Laura McCullagh

Week 03

‘Robert Glasper and the Experiment’ by Desireé-Moila

‘Saved’ by Tshego Waisi

‘Black Cake’ by Jessica Solomon

‘Chantal’ Ryan Roake

Week 02

‘Cloudy Days’ by Tshego Waisi

‘California Dreaming’ by Ashleigh Wainstein

‘Isibaya’ by ZeroDarkstar

‘In Orchids’ by Ilse Moore

Week 01

‘Lucid Nightmare’ by Janine Kuschke Van Der Tuin

‘Band Tourism’ by YasMoosa

‘Reality’ by Elani Jacobs

untitled by Daniel van Flymen

Enjoy our March selection!

Week 04

‘Das Kapital’ by Deon van Zyl

‘Polynesian Gaze’ by Nika Badenhorst

untitled by Charles Harry Mackenzie

‘Birth’ by Tyler McGown

Week 03

‘Wild Winds’ by Little.Harlequin

‘Kandra van der Bank’ by alexisVERT

‘Pole dance’ by Janine Kuschke

‘Madonna’ by Elani Jacobs

Week 02

‘Daydream’ by Brett Charles Seiler

‘Unsex Mich Jetzt’ by Thebe Magugu

‘Bird’ by Elsa Bleda

‘Title’ by Banele Khoza

Week 01

‘Shipwrecked’ by Elani Jacobs

‘Instagramming’ by zenography

‘Lost at Sea’ by Elsa Bleda

‘Dull’ by Darion Joubert

At the end of each week, we add four more images from onesmallseed.net to the relevant month’s gallery collection on onesmallseed.com. All images are the featured works of members of one small seed network, our creative online community. To have your work featured here, simply sign up as a member and start uploading!

Enjoy our February selection!

Week 04

‘Talia’ by Elani Jacobs

‘Hair Tug Wars’ by Kass DEA

‘Anny Reflection Pattern’ by Hendri Viljoen

‘5/52′ by Yaseera Moosa

Week 03

‘9/365′ by Tyler McGown

‘Charlie’ by Charles Harry Mackenzie

‘Surgical-Smile’ by Dr Benway

‘Incomplete’ by Tauriq Dolley

‘ChianoSky’ by Banele Khoza

‘Friedrich Nietzche’ by Andy Higgins

‘Tree 1′ by Dennis Joubert

‘Untied’ by Leigh-Ann Theart

 
Week 01
 

‘Urban Cape Town’ by Logan Lopata

untitled by Menzi Siphesihle Mzimela

‘Sometimes the blues is just a passing bird’ by Elsa Bleda

Tell us how and when you started photography?
I started photographing after doing a hand developing photography course at Photofusion in Brixton, London about 13 years ago.

Are mannequins easy models to work with?
Mannequins are great models, very adaptable and never have bad hair days.

Do they eat?
Mannequins only eat at night, when humans are sleeping. Should they be fed during the day, they may bite.

Please tell us how?
After hours, I shoot within the depths of my studio flat in Green Point – also known as the Squirrel’s Nest. The Mannequins now call this nest their home too – The Mannequin Masquerade Headquarters. On our travels this week we tracked down a supplier of traffic beacons for a future photo-shoot and spent the day masquerading at West Coast National Park in celebration of Women’s Day. The mannequins caused quite a stir in the serenity & tranquillity of the park. I recorded comments overheard by curious by-passers when they spot the mannequins:
“I wonder who did this?!”
“Is this for real?”
“How many of these do you have?”
“Is dit ‘n dame? Dit lyk soos a forken mermaid!”
“Is this some sort of experiment or competition or something? Would you like to bring them for a drink at my place – I stay in a house not far from here.”

How did your phone drown?
My phone drowned a very sorrowful death due to being accidentally dropped in a pot of water, whilst speaking to my Fox (my boyfriend).

Some of the work can be seen as rather trippy… How do you feel about hallucinogenics and the creative doors it can open?
Many people have said this to me – ironically no hallucinogenics or even a single drop of alcohol have been involved during the past two months of photographing these mannequins – I decided to pursue a period of alcohol-free existence for two months and BAM! this happened! This is thus proof that creativity can explode via many channels, including the understated and underrated doors of sobriety.

What inspired you behind your album Mannequin Masquerades?
There was no specific inspiration behind the Masquerades – one Monday I woke up wanting a mannequin then the search began – I was quoted between R800 – R3000 for various mannequins. Madame Manique Win (the female) belonged to me when I did a year of Fashion Design at Natal Technikon in 1996, so my mother kindly sent her down from Durban to me. Madame Manique Win then begged me to find her a playmate, so we found Monsieur Tranny Quin shortly after her arrival in the Mothership at Milnerton Market – the rest has been total improvisation and organic spontaneity.

I have an assortment of fabrics, clothing & accessories that we play with. It starts with the prop of a hat or a wig & the rest unfolds. There is no law & order where these punks are concerned, that’s for the humans.

What can the kaleidoscopic escape be seen to represent in your story.
Kaleidoscopic escape refers to the visual escape I hope that viewers get when they see these photos & in particular the kaleidoscope-like collages that I have created from the photographs.

‘Fantasy is the new reality ‘ – can you tell me a little more about this.
The mannequins get themselves into such astounding outfits & lighting situations, that they may appear to be in & from another dimension. Some people have mistaken the mannequins in some photographs for humans. This fantastical illusion is reality to the mannequins.

You went to AfrikaBurn this year right… ? What was your most bizarre memory you came back with?
Yes, this year was my first burn – what an incredible experience. Highlighting the most bizarre memory is quite a tricky one because there were so many! First thing that comes to mind was a surprise meeting and improvised story-telling session by MAfrica – the intriguing green forest fairy with the voice and expressions of a 6-year old child. She appeared one morning at our camp, with an intricate head piece of trees & dangling butterflies, treated us to a few tales and then moved magically forth into the mirage!

title: Cyborg2

Title: TechnoPunkManiqueWin3

Title: PsyRenaissanceTranny2

Title: TechnicolourManique1

Title: LEDRibbon4

Title: LEDCandles3

Title: FuturisticHippieManique1

Title: FineFeatheredTranny3

Interview by: David Plenderleith

Connect with her onesmallseed.net profile here
View more of her work on her Facebook page here

one small seed: Many would say that where you are now is quite a stark contrast – in many ways – to living in Ghana. How have you managed to integrate the London fashion scene with your traditional African roots?

Akosua Afriyie-Kumi: If you ask any of my friends in the UK they will tell you how much I love Ghana. I have practically educated my whole university and work colleagues about the wonders of Africa and to feel more at home about where I come from. I marry the two together by not ever forgetting where my origin, always including a little part of where I come from in my work. Thus having bright colours in my work is something I tend to do mostly. When I think of Africa, I think ‘happy and bright’ – so that is portrayed a lot in my work.

Talk to us about your style; where do you draw your influence from and what makes you work unique?

When I am starting research for a collection I have a few key words or ideas in my head. It’s mostly fun, thoughtful and bright. I am a happy person and try to bring that through in my art.  I am very relaxed and love technology so anything to do with the sciences or something ‘out of this world’ you would see me looking closely and wanting to adapt it somehow in my work. I love looking at works of new designers too it a bit of a motivation for me to do well. Hence using Yinka Shonibare in my last collection was to ‘come back to earth’ as most would say. I wanted to connect with something I was familiar with and using a fine artist from Africa was a key solution.

The perception of Made in Africa garments overseas. What is it now and will it change?

I feel Africa is a slow developing continent and things will change slowly but surely in the near future. Great things are coming from us now and I am happy to be a contributing hand so I think it will change soon.

We’re beginning to see some young talent coming out of UK; Gareth Pugh, William Tempest, Christopher Kane, these are potentially some names we might see dominate the scene in the future. What’s the feeling for somebody who just graduated from fashion school? Is it more ‘get experience’ or ‘start my own thing’?

I think gaining experience is key but sometimes others are very level headed and go out and make it. My up bringing is to gain as much knowledge through experience and put it into something of your own and make it work but if that something doesn’t work out your experience is always there to get you something else.

What can we expect to see from you in the near future? A London Fashion Week appearance maybe (solo)?

I am hoping to gain as much experience and contacts by working with William Tempest and hopefully in the future set up my own company in Ghana. I am hoping to do charity work as well. It’s a thought I have always had and I feel if the money goes to my home country that would be amazing, so I want to set up workshops where children can come in and learn a trade like sewing, pattern cutting or designing and hopefully get employed by myself or someone else in the fashion business but they leave with a skill in hand which they can fall back on in the future.

To our designers here in South Africa and across the African continent, what can they do to give themselves as much exposure as possible without compromising their art form?

Designers should explore more on traditional art and have a great, modern take on it. A great example will be the African print; it’s widely used by a lot of designers in Africa and around the world but some designers have taken a modern take on it which is proving very popular. Jewel by Lisa has emblemised the African fabric, Suno has made great digital prints out of them and I think this is the way forward. Take traditional values and create something exciting out of it to appeal to greater, modern audiences out there but still keeping in mind not to compromise entirely on traditional values.

Interview by: Tebogo Mohlahlana, originally published on onesmallseed.com in March 2011.

Photographs courtesy of: Lucy Davenport

Here’s what Jessica says about the album:

Photographer Steve Marais and I are on a mission to find the best talent in Joburg. We asked the top agencies in the city to send us their most promising new faces. The result is a series of beautiful portraits of the top young modeling talent Jo’burg has to offer. These are the models who, in our opinion, will make it big in 2012.

Model: Amielle Morel
Make-up: Jaxy
Clothing: Mystic Rose Kalk Bay, Jacqueline Partridge
Special Thanks: Nerine Dorman