The Point, Durban

Why I shoot at the Point.

Its not because I have a thing for walking the streets, and parading my wares, showing off my assets. There is no prostitution there anymore. Well, not on the streets anyway. So its not that.

I shoot at the Point because its beautiful and old. Beautiful and new. Just plain lovely. Everywhere you look there is something to see and take a photo of. A broken wall there, and sparkling new wall there.

Fabulous.

Its also safe. Can you believe it? Gone are the days of crime, muggings and poverty. Thats still there, but its been moved up a few roads to the Wheel area. But the Point area has been revitalised by the construction of lovely, spanking new - could be The Docklands, London - apartments. The cheapest ones go for R1 million or R2 million, the most expensive, well, just add a nought or two to those figures. Which means lots of rich people zooming around, needing to protect their assets. So lots of security. Two sets of security companies - the specially created Point Security, and the private company Enforce. A little bit of overkill, but who the hell cares, when at least you can take photos in some degree of safety!

I have yet to see a vagrant or hobo, although there is evidence that they once lived in the abandoned buildings. I've seen more security guards, cleaners and dusters, than I've seen hobos.

Anyway, so its safe and my mom can be happy that I'm safe. Well, relatively. I could be harmed going to Musgrave Centre - it is South Africa, after all. So lets not get silly about what is safe and what is not.

But its the beauty and the buildings that attract me. Haha - The Beauty and The Buildings. A movie title. Who could play me? - she'd need to be really beautiful to do justice to me, is all I can say. There would need to be a handsome, dashing young man for the heroine to 'play' with. Who says the movie has to reflect reality completely?

But back to the Point. It is just beautiful. Lots of nooks and crannies, places to take photos, places to just see what was once the start of Durban's city. History and the future, all rolled up together. And all waiting for me to take photos....

I've been over 25 times, including the Flicker Meetup Group outing. I dont want to do a photo count, but all I can say is that when I got back from London in January I had just reached my 10 000th photo. Yesterday, at the Point, I reached my 20 000th photo. In eight months I've taken 10 000 photos, possibly half of them are from the Point. So I've taken a photo or two...

I'll be putting up my favourites. The buildings are the focus, specially the old buidlings. But its the little things that catch my attention. The shoes - oh, gosh, the shoes! So many left behind, deserted... Why? There is even a pair of black high heeled sandals, trapped under the wooden beams. A relic from the unsavoury past of the Point. Or some poor bridesmaid lost her shoes under the rubble? The Point is now a prime spot for wedding photos. Ironic, or what? All the virginal brides, getting their photos taken in a place previously known for some rather un-virginal activity.

OK, so I will continue soon. Got to dash off, I do have a life other than Blogging, you know...