Beaded giraffe – Cape Town, 2007
South Africans have a long tradition of beadwork, with some tribes like the amaZulu even using beads to compose love-letters. Enterprising craftsmen have adapted their craft to modern times and these days it is possible to buy a range of non-traditional beaded items, often from roadside vendors in cities. You can often watch these guys sitting by the roadside with their wire, their beads and a set of pliers, creating beaded works of art seemingly out of nothing. There is still jewellery on offer, but there are also bowls, boxes, lampshades, mobiles and a mind-boggling menagerie of beaded animals, from beautiful traditional Nguni cattle and life-sized sheep, to elephants, lizards and this 40cm tall giraffe that lives in my lounge in London.
Saturday Snapshots is a series of non-food photographs published every Saturday on CookSister. Previously featured photographs can be viewed on the Saturday Snapshots archive pages. Many photos featured in Saturday Snapshots are available to buy as high-quality greeting cards or prints in my RedBubble store.