volume one

confessions of a model

-Simone Christian

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You would think some animosity would transpire because we’re all vying for the same job, but this is hardly the case. When one of us gets called in, because the director has joined us finally, we give words of encouragement and genuine smiles.

We hear one another’s stories and what brought us here –

And by the end of the waiting period, you’re left hoping someone else more worthy gets the job.

Someone who needs it more than you do.

This is the industry.

Close-up of an elegant woman with dark skin, wearing blue eyeshadow, glossy lips, gold earrings, a gold bracelet, and a hand touching her neck, with a blurred reflection of her face to her left.
Profile of a woman with dark skin wearing a tiger-print headscarf, large earrings, and a textured pink and black outfit against a green background.

andy reeves

Close-up of a woman with vibrant red, orange, and yellow eye makeup blending across her face.

photographer

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A woman with short dark hair, vibrant blue eye makeup, and red lipstick wearing a black sheer bra, long black gloves, a white flower necklace, and a maroon skirt standing against a white wall.

what cannot be said will be wept

vuyo mthetho

"What cannot be said will be wept

And it will quench the gravel

Under your feet..."

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Stack of cartoon stuffed animals including bears, hippos, and a fish, lying on the floor in various positions, with some wearing shoes and gloves.
A scattered assortment of decorative flower-shaped and star-shaped ceramic or plastic jewelry charms in pink, white, orange, and green on a pink wooden surface, with some charms attached to green stems and a pink ribbon tied in a bow.

wim le grand

artist

Review

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'her' changed my life

Samantha: So, what was it like being married?

Theodore: Well, it’s hard, for sure. But there’s something that feels good about sharing your life with somebody.

mukisa mujulizi

The movie ‘her’ (2013) written and directed by Spike Jonze, is ostensibly about our main character Theodore’s relationship with his artificial intelligence, Samantha. But it is about so much more than that. When we meet Theodore, he is in a state of unrest. He is lonely, listens to melancholic music, barely keeping in touch with his friends, and seemingly out of touch with the world around him. The very first scene of the movie portrays Theodore demonstrating his ability to love and care for others through in his work as a letter writer, yet he does not love or care for himself. We are, therefore, immediately presented with the first conflict of the film: Theodore desires to care and be cared for, and yet he is alone.

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@les.isonline

photographer

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Butter River’s Boob Baby

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"Long legs blossoming out of the car and out bursts

the casual bliss of woman, big bosomed, proud,

she walks into the house tits-first – bright eyes blazing,

hands like guns on her hips, her belly fat, a bowl

of caviar – and about to get her period. In a cool tragedy

of hormonal delusion she spots a single wild egg on

the windowsill: light, pure, plucks it, clutches it, and o

what an idea! Lo and behold – she nurses it between

her breasts. How brilliant. How beautiful..."

beth rowley

Selloane Moeti

artist

Colorful painting of a person with a tree trunk body, and a butterfly on their head with a yellow and blue patterned wing, set against a sky with clouds, surrounded by a rooster and other abstract elements.
A painting of a woman with a cracked, faceless orange mask, purple curly hair, wearing earrings and pink clothing, holding her face in a field of tall grass with hills and a blue sky in the background.
A surreal painting featuring a large flower with the face of a person, surrounded by bright yellow flowers with fields and hills in the background.

interview

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interview +

A young person with short dark hair, wearing a backward cap, earrings, and a sleeveless black shirt, standing outside near a window and smiling at the camera.

'Runs in the Family'

Gabe Gabriel on Capturing
Queer Joy in Cinema

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Basetsana

Makhalemele

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A woman standing outdoors in a rural field with wildflowers, holding a basket of yellow fruits, with hills in the background, wearing a head wrap, white top, and flower-patterned skirt, with facial mud.
A close-up black and white photo of a person with a patterned headscarf, partially obscured by tree branches, gazing through the branches with a contemplative expression.
A person stands outdoors holding a large decorative mirror reflecting another person dressed in warm clothing with a scenic landscape and cloudy sky in the background.
A colorful abstract artwork of multiple faces and fish intertwined, featuring large eyes and flowing lines.
A surreal illustration of a woman with plant and animal elements woven into her body, sitting by a pond surrounded by mushrooms, trees, and foliage, blending nature with fantasy.
A colorful mural of a woman's face with various scenes inside her head, including people relaxing, swimming, and engaging in activities, surrounded by trees, plants, and decorative objects.

marlene steyn

the duality of physical touch

steff malherbe

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"There is something undeniably homoerotic about men’s rugby. You probably aren’t supposed to point that out, but there is. While watching the Rugby World Cup Semi-Final, one of my girlfriends queried, “This is quite sexual, isn’t it?”. And honestly, she isn’t wrong. Bodies, dripping in sweat jumping on one another; passionate, unselfconscious embraces; figures mounting one another in pursuit of the ball. Rugby revolves around touch: tackling, scrumming, rucking, mauling. There is hardly a moment that goes by when one person’s body is not brushing (or thrashing) against someone else’s. When a team wins, they hug, cry, kiss. They hold one another’s faces and smile, their teeth mirroring one another, close enough to clash. After the Springbok’s quarter-final game against the World Cup’s host nation, France, a video surfaced of Siya Kolisi, South Africa’s captain, planting multiple kisses on his fellow teammate Jessie Kriel’s face. Many of these interactions, from the intimate moments to the aggression shown between members of opposite teams, would be condemned, or censored off the field. However, mid-or-post game, these actions are viewed as displays of secure masculinity, a confirmation, if anything, of their unwavering heterosexuality."

murray williamson

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A person walking along a damp seaside walkway at dusk, with mountains in the background and power lines overhead.
A snowy forest landscape with twisting trees and a small pathway in the foreground, captured in black and white.
Group of people standing on concrete and rocky shoreline by the ocean, with waves and distant land in the background.
Silhouette of tree branches and leaves against a cloudy sky.

true love

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joy millar

When we finally part I hope you take the bins out with you.

l'lI look at you from behind, your posture bent and retiring

as you stagger up our driveway

and into the north light channels

bursting with bougainvillaea.

review

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in the moonlight,

Black boys look blue.

Mukisa Mujulizi

The linear progression of time, while beautiful, often obfuscates one desperately wretched reality; that there is no going back. Like a wave, every moment will come and go, with its own unique make-up, its own pace, and its own timing. The same wave that retreats into the ocean will never be the same wave crashing again. It is one of life’s greatest treasures as it forces us to acknowledge our mortality. But it’s a poignant beauty, one that enables me to celebrate something as inconsequential as the taste of a truly wonderful pineapple or as consequential as the writings of an activist begging humanity for a modicum of respect and dignity.

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