seven days of yaela orelowitz
But, the adventure down the rabbit hole does not end there for Yaela.
At the periphery, or rather the turning point on her journey with stories, she has ventured deeper still.
The study of formal journalism and subsequent practice of this written art in its many forms has presented Yaela with yet another instrument in her arsenal; which she wields with a boldness and ease that amazes as much as it pleases. This has led to an appreciation, on her part, of the realities evident in the different forms or creative writing. She distinguishes herself from the conventional and mundane with such clarity that it comes as no surprise that she might never be found within the confined spaces of office blocks and imposing rules.
“I'd like to be a travel writer. Not so much a journalist or documentarian but more of a thought-collector. I have a knack for meeting interesting people and getting myself in crazy situations. This makes for good stories.”
What is admirable about Yaela is that the allure of prescriptive writing; that erroneously misleads and exaggerates, is nowhere to be found in her work. She is an artist, in the truest sense of the word, driven by the willingness to discover again and again. And as any artist knows; there is nothing new or of interest to be learnt from a life spent either hypnotised by boxes with satellite connections or by the life of a hermit who exists only between the pages of other people’s imaginings and ideas.
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The road less travelled might be dangerous but, if we never walk it all we can ever do is speculate
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She is a child of the outdoors, where there are no clichés of babbling brooks or twisting walkways. Her words don’t live on the page; they take permanent residence in the mind of the reader.
This style of writing, that claims no objectivity and makes no apologies, is a pleasure to read.
The fearlessness that is evident in her storytelling and thought-collection is a reflection of the approach she takes during these travels.
“Every place I visit I long for more time in, to explore, learn the language, understand the culture and do everyday things as a local. I hate being a tourist. I prefer to go beyond the "Lonely Planet" route and seek out the hidden gems and sub-cultures in the city, town or village.”
And even though she realises that much of what she involves herself in might eventually land her in jail, she is not deterred from discovering and learning. The road less travelled might be dangerous but, if we never walk it all we can ever do is speculate.
Yaela’s narrative of the places she journeys into is so vivid that it is easy to imagine her as an old friend with whom you share an intimate sense of humour and vocabulary. She draws on an expansive wealth of language that is neither fancy nor popular.
One idea simply ties delicately into the next. A word soon becomes a sentence and soon enough you find that you have devoured her journal of travels in a single day. This, of course, only serves to whet the appetite.
That is part of the charm in Yaela’s words. She is easy to understand and even easier to enjoy.
Finally, in spite of her inability to draw coherent stick figures, the visual story has presented her with another challenge she could never have refused. And so the young artist has discovered that learning presents its fair share of trappings and misfortunes. She is now on her final stretch as a student of photography and her maturity on the art of storytelling has given her a holistic and equally realistic perspective of which she notes that photography “is a way of interpreting life”.
“Photographs are not taken; they are made and in the making of a photograph distortion inevitably occurs.”
Yaela has no misconceptions about the glorified value of images, words or any form of narrative. She harbours no naïve concepts that could find her landlocked in a frame of thought that often sees other artists lose sight of the purpose of their art. Art for the sake of art holds no appeal to her.
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Visit Yaela’s blog > yaelastage.blogspot.com
Links she recommends >
beanthere.co.za
mastertons.co.za
origins.org.za |
