Featured Artists
Rocket in my Pocket
"If one can find a perfect balance between purity & perversion in reality, then that’s where you’ll find a good story..."
Gareth Pon a frontrunner for Instagram is responsible for spearheading it and making it popular in South Africa. Organising Insta-Meets to push the boundaries of social media and mobile photography. Gareth was the founder of National South African Instagram community in 2013, the first in the country with an international link. Press features followed (including MTV, CNN, Huffington Post to name a few) to help him catapult and his followers began to grow.
Gareth says " Art is Abstract " and can "Invoke stark emotions of hatred or love". Gareth reinforces that photography gives “VOICE and EYES”and is the new way to draw visually. The evolution and reach of photography have brought about an interesting number of mediums and interpretations." CHARACTER OF THE CREATOR should resonate in the Creations".The ability to critically analyse once's own work objectively is what separates the “GRAIN FROM THE CHAFF”
With the sheer number of people creating “ART” loosely, its intrinsic value loses focus and its beauty gets watered down, he feels. The overwhelming amount of content out there can confound and confuse us too, he feels.
He credits his success to a series of “Right Mistakes”, that fitted perfectly like a puzzle. " I became a Travel Photographer by chance". A“JACK OF ALL TRADES”. "I fell in love with Photography "and saw my immense popularity across Social Platforms.
To all aspiring photographers and filmmakers his word of advice is, “GETTING TO KNOW ONES CAMERA” . A requirement to shoot every image with perfection Once you’ve mastered the technical know how, then creating becomes “CHILD’S PLAY”. Technology and specifications are important but not the only milestones in weaving a story with your camera, Gareth rationalises.
Gareth's Pre-Production tenet "Arduous Preparations before shoots". A Hard Task Master his “PREPAREDNESS” is meticulous with a list of all places and angles that are to be shot. An Intrinsic Photographer with years of mastery of his craft, "I experiment with the camera and go “CLICK-FRENZY” till I am satiated for "A PERFECT SHOT”. A social butterfly, he is intuitive in weaving personal stories with profound ease. A natural, often he feels there is a “STORY” to be told and often doesn't rest till he finds the 'picture' that fits the narrative. A true Story Teller !!
Gareth credits his trip to the Land of the Rising Sun and Jordan amongst his most memorable ones. .
Gareth's travel to the “LAND OF THE RISING SUN” was deeply gratifying when he spent 3 weeks travelling to Tokyo, Nara, Osaka and Kyoto. Gareth experienced first hand a rice planting festival, explored an abandoned theme park, sit next to bowing dear and “WALK” the beautiful streets of Tokyo.
He uses windows to merge portraits and reflections. His ongoing series videoshttps://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/gpwindowportraits/ are amongst his favourites.
Originally a filmmaker, who did short documentaries a lot of his work still has hints of filmmaking in them. Gareth has dabbled in animation when younger. and would love to return to them if not for the time constraints.vis-a-vis convenience of photography.Gareth's multi-ethnicity has helped him create a wide canvas as a Film-maker who has mastered various mediums and has managed to create a mass following across platforms on social media.
"I believe People ,Photographs, Connections and Locations are “BORDER-LESS" " thanks to the ever-expanding digital landscape. The digital boom that has opened doors, brought opportunities and expanded profitability for many talented individuals around the world . Ever pragmatic, he says that the most essential though is talent, and without Talent, the “FOLLOWERS on SOCIAL MEDIA” has no substance.
Practice, Practice, Practice is my mantra.
About Gareth
Gareth Pon a South African by birth, born in a little town called Benoni and was raised in Johannesburg. A Self Confessed Dreamer with India on his bucket list. Gareth hides a rocket in all his photos, his goal in life is to hand pick a group of BRAVE HEARTS from around the world and go to space, Elon Musk pay heed.
He loves ramen and is always keen for Ice-Cream. He is multi-faceted, started with fashion design, gravitated towards retail marketing, made his way to design, dabbled in architecture, began doing animation, fell into films and eventually became a photographer. He currently lives in Chicago and is discovering his new life in the USA.
Gareth's portfolio can be viewed as:
http://instagram.com/garethpon
http://twitter.com/garethpon
http://garethpon.com
http://vimeo.com/garethpon