Busy bee

Up and coming Fashion designer Ria Aleema showcased her new range of lingre on 1st December at Leicester University at a Fashion Galore event. Ria's designs are to accomadate the need of women who have smaller bodies and a larger bust. The event was hosted by comedian Miss London and there was a fantastic turnout. Here are some pics I have been playing around with on photoshop.

Also this week, I spent some time baking cupcakes to sell in a fundraiser, raising money for Brixton mosque to complete their building extension. These cupcakes raised £10   :)

I have a funny obsession with cupcakes. My favourite clothing company is Johnny Cupcakes and I LOVE their designs. I thourougly recomend checking out the website http://www.johnnycupcakes.com/

Johnny also keeps an interesting blog.

Ghana part 2

The weather in Ghana was so wonderfully hot. It only rained 3 times in the six weeks I was there. I got tan lines from my swimsuit :)

My street in Agboba. Its really refreshing how different the culture is over there. most people are happy with what they have, because the most important thing is family.

The comunities are very strong. Everyone greets each other in the street. Its an experience that has made me see things in a different way. I would say that I dont have much, but compared to some of the people I have met I am now very grateful for what I have. One of my Neighbours didnt have electricity in her home, and she had to help her kids with homework by candle light in the evening. Many parents will go to the market or town to sell whatever they can just to be able to pay for their children's education. They really dont make much by selling buscuits and sweets, or fruit and veg. Most people carry these items on their heads all day to sell to the people who drive their cars on the main road. Medical treatment must be paid for as there is no NHS. It is a really hard life for some people.

My family and I went to see the botanical gardens in Aburi.

This tree is over 300 years old and is the tallest tree I've ever seen. Hopefully my family standing under it can show you the sheer scale of it.

I found a praying mantis in the bushes. A tour guide took us around and told us some history of the plants there. There was lots to see.

Ghana part 1

Im now back from Ghana, I wasn't able to get much access to the internet over there so i have a lot of making up to do in this blog! So an update of over six weeks!

My mothers house was better than I had imagined. Over two plots, she has a bungalow, a shop, servants quarters and a basketball hoop :)

The area I stayed in was a town called Agboba. It is a developing area and we had to put up with many power cuts, which is common all over Ghana. The thing that I like most about it is that if you have enough money to build a house, you can design it anyway you like. The houses are genereally more beautiful than tha average home in Britatin. In the design process you are free to decide on the structure as well as the decor. As I said previously, Agbogba is a developing area and most houses are incomplete.  My mother spent around 15 years to complete hers, and now she can retire hapily in her new home. The neighbours are very friendly. This lady had a pet monkey and lots of goats.

I often used to go round to feed the monkey some plantain, orange or banana. The monkey really didnt like my mum for some reason :s

Here you can really see the difference between rich and poor. She lives without electricity in a very small home. The lady's son - Sir Collins runs a school down the road, called Sir CollinsViv Academy which is full of sweet children. He was kind enough to invite me to take some pictures.

One classroom is outside. the school has only been established for around 2 years. They are looking for funding so that a proper school building can be made for the kids. The education is focused around Christianity, and they teach the children skills that they will need in everyday life, for example English, Maths and how to grow different fruit and vegetables.

EID MUBARAK!

As my family are muslims, we celebrated Eid after Ramadan. We went to Elwack Stadium to pray.

This is my outfit, and these were my shoes!

When I got there, I was greeted by drummers, beggers and people selling sweets, mats and anything else. the whole stadium was packed and people started lining up to pray.

It was a really nice day, and my family traditionally blessed (Hallal) and slaughterd a goat. It made a delicious soup. It might sound mean but its the freshest way to have meat for the whole family.

My Ghanain family resides in New Town, Accra. This is a very busy town as it is situated in the capital city. Dinner time always brings the family together. here my cousins are pounding yam and cassava to make Fufu, which is eaten with soup.

My mummy and aunties in New Town.

GHANA - Here I come!

soo I'm off on holiday for 6 weeks to Ghana which is the place of my mothers birth. I'm really looking forward to it. I've been many times before and I'm looking forward to soo many things like chilling out at the beach and all the wonderful african food. I want to learn how to speak Hausa and most of all see my family again. I will be staying at my mums big new house! My mum has worked really hard to achieve this - I'm so proud of her she deserves to hapily retire there. I've had my holiday injections! ooh!

I'll be taking all of my cameras so expect lots of photos on my blog! The neighbouring countries around Ghana are Togo Bukina Faso and the Ivory Coast. during my time I will be looking for anything I can make some kind of documentary with. I have always wanted to show people what Ghana really is like - to explore the culture and the people and just experience MY Ghana. when I return, I shall edit my footage into a short video. TTYL XOXO

Visible Women!

Please excuse the lack of blogging! A quick update – I’ve been working all month on an advert promoting a charity called Visible Women. They will empower students to be the driving force in confronting the under- representation of women in certain industries. Another focus of this charity is to find ambassadors to inspire young women to aim high, and also gain employment opportunities. Students will learn how to approach employers and gain confidence. The website is not finished yet, but here is the ad.


Shot on Sony Z-1 and edited on Final Cut Pro.

Never Miss A Trick

On London's Southbank is where young skaters and BMX'ers hang out and perfect their tricks. Here are some photos I took last week. My Macro adapter adds the circular vignette around each picture and a slight fish-eye effect.







This is Michael and Nathan. They are best friends and both 9years old. Both more than happy for their picture to be taken. I'm sure they wil be amazing one day!The BMX'ers were particulary skilled, performing jumps, wheelies and 360 spins.

Welcome Tia !

I got a kitten for my graduation present from my Simon. I've Called her Tia. she has Big EARS and Big EYES. she is beautiful! She likes to chase her tail and she likes playing with shoe laces and exploring all corners of my house and garden!



I love her lots !

Graduation

Yay, I graduated uni after studying three hard years of BA. (Hons) Film Production. I got a 2:1. Mummy was proud altough I'm pretty sure that she has no idea what that means.


From left to right: Big sister Adiza, Mummy, Me, Billy Williams (BSC) Chris Pinnock, Noski Deville.

I got to meet Billy Williams again for the first time since my interview in which he awarded me the Dougie Slocombe Scholarship for cinematography. He also got an award from my uni which is why he has special graduation clothes on - he was an honourary graduate. The day went really well. I'm glad Uni is over but there are some people I will miss but I will take with me precious memories.

Options hot chocolate

This is an advert i made in uni for Options Hot Chocolate, good memories! i DP and edit, one woman team. Enjoy!

Reading Festival Advert

This is a project i took up with lovely advertising students Becky Pollack, Amiirah Nobeebaccus and Kirsty Bane, featuring Kat Tungate and Roland. Enjoy.

NEXT advert

I'm so in love with the next advert. Whenever i see it on TV it makes me so happy and I wont stop speaking about it for ages. I've just started making adverts with some students but working on a TV advert like this would be a dream come true. I love it for so many reasons - It's good to see black models being used more commercially. The models look so good together, they actually remind me of my boyfriend and I. The locations are stunning and they really make me want to be on holiday. It also makes me look to the future because I would one day like to live abroad. I love that the advert tells a story. plus the clothes look great! (It's what they are trying to sell afterall...) I just LOVE this TV ad. If I could escape...

Funky Simon Photos

I had some fun a while ago on photoshop, and i messed around with some photos of my boyfriend. I'm quite into duo-chrome.

Asian Bride Photoshoot

My friend Josephine Dasalla is studying fashion, and she designed a headpiece insired by asian brides. So I decided to turn it into a chance to hold a photoshoot session for it.