Back at the old quarry. A chance to reshoot the painting with water on the vertical rockface first attempted back in July when clouds passing in front of the sun changed the lighting mid-shot. And more vertical water lines inside grooves left by what must have been enormous stoneworking machinery, this time in descending order…

Inauspicious start to the second trip to the Karoo: rendered immobile thirty five kilometres from destination by two simultaneous flat tyres on deserted dirt road, with no cell phone signal, an hour before sunset. Rescued by team from camp arriving on the scene 10 o’clock at night with big truck, spades, jacks and tools to…

Still making use of the soft light of winter, forgiving of midday shoots. Our second time on the beach in Gordon’s Bay, where Strijdom had found a large out-of-place rock, one half of which could be painted with ochre mud, with False Bay as backdrop, and across the ocean the distant mountain range of the…

Another day, another patch of dried, cracked mud, this time close to camp. Around Stellenbosch, even far out of town, our experience has been that it’s often so noisy – with hikers and cyclists, the power saws of forestry workers, passing vehicle traffic, the hum of electricity substations, the jet engines of planes high above…

The wind the previous day turned out to have been the precursor to a grey overcast morning, dulling the colours somewhat but also probably extending our shoot time, as Strijdom made imaginary water circles rippling out from stones dropped onto the surface of a dam that was no longer there. Cracked and dried-out mud sediment…

Working according to the project plan drawn up before the first shoot months before: Tankwa Karoo in winter, between four and five hours’ drive out of Cape Town, depending, that is, on the speed one opts for on the seemingly interminable stretch of dirt road making up a substantial part of the journey – and…

Something we had been planning on doing for a long time: for the first time shooting a work on one of the many beaches within striking distance of Strijdom’s home base in Stellenbosch. Another first for the project: having to fit in with the tides – low tide clearing a space for Strijdom to work…

Back in Paradyskloof forest again, before sunrise, less than twenty four hours later. Another perfect, cloudless, windless Stellenbosch winter’s morning, with joggers, hikers and families arriving before sunrise already for early Sunday morning physical activity in nature. Working close to where we had been the previous two days, in a less frequented part of the…