Category: book

Fine art photographer shares pearls of wisdom with Gqeberha

BY TSHEPISO MAMETELA – 10 OCTOBER 2023

LIFE LESSONS: Fogarty’s Bookshop owner Teresa Fogarty, left, and fine art photographer and East London inspirational speaker Marlene Neumann

Established Eastern Cape fine art photographer Marlene Neumann held an exclusive reading in Walmer of her recently launched book, A Dance with Life.

The event at Fogarty’s Bookshop gave a remarkable insight into her unique journey of dabbling in and developing a black-and-white darkroom process.

With an enthralled audience sitting back and eager to listen, the reading on Thursday offered key lessons to inspire new thinking based on nature and spirituality.

The East London inspirational speaker shared her personal and deeply philosophical offering on her first stop of a book tour in the city.

A donation drive added extra excitement to the evening as guests donated dog food in large quantities for charitable aid in Gqeberha.

The nature photography vet of 40 years, whose previous experience includes heading the art and design department at an SA Technikon, said people yearned for new experiences.

“The response from Gqeberha was beautiful and overwhelming,” Neumann said.

“People are hungry for this kind of vulnerability and rawness, and to bring it into their daily lives by opening themselves up to a new way of living.

“Many said they wanted me to come back and hold a few workshops.”

Traumatic and life-threatening circumstances in her life awakened in Neumann the importance of savouring each moment.

This deep appreciation through her own experiences allowed the audience to be transported on a gentle journey of self-understanding.

“This is what we need in society — just how to go forward in a new way of being,” she said after launching A Dance with Life, her third book, three months ago.

“A Dance with Life, like [the previous two books], is based around my photographs and, more specifically, about peeling back the layers of our own emotions through the photographs.

“It’s another way of being and feeling and giving people permission to be vulnerable.

“Busy, ordinary people want to learn a new way of life and it is time.”

On the donations, which brought in more than 100kg of feed which Save-A-Pet in Greenbushes will distribute at an informal settlement in Kuyga, Neumann expressed her keen love for dogs.

This, she said, was a testament to a project she runs focusing on sterilisation in East London’s informal settlement areas.

“The Buckaroo Sterilisation Drive serves as a fundraising and awareness initiative primarily focused on the welfare of animals.

“In the last five years, I have had 2,500 dogs sterilised by managing to get international funding.

“Wherever I go for the book readings, I will always collect dog food for a local dog charity.”

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Book Chats with Salomé

I was blown away by this book review by Salomé – I just had to share it with you!

A DANCE WITH LIFE COVER

A Dance with Life by Marlene Neumann

We often meet our life teachers in unexpected ways. So it was for me when I met Marlene Neumann, Master Fine Art Photographer, spiritual teacher and the author of A Dance with Life at her Centre for Photography & Light, which happens to be next door to where my brother lives in the suburb of Vincent, East London.

As a photographer since the age of fourteen, Marlene dedicated her life to this art. She developed her skills to become one of the best fine art photographers in South Africa and gained international recognition for inventing her unique black-and-white alternative darkroom process. Through her photography, she found her connection with nature and the stillness within. Today, her photographs, inspirational talks, and creativity workshops have the power to shake and move an audience emotionally.

In her book A Dance with Life, she invites the reader to join her in a dance to nature’s rhythm. As Marlene writes in her introduction, the book tells of how she dances with life – sometimes waltzing, other times fox trotting or doing hip-hop, or just sitting out and watching others dance on some days. She uses beautiful images in the book to reflect the various insights nature has revealed to her as she dances through her life, allowing her readers to explore their own lives in order to heal and transform.

Reading her book was like a much-needed refresher course, confirming all the principles of my own belief system but packaged visually in a new way that is enticing, easy to read, and easy to understand.

This autobiographical compilation of her personal journey (or dance) through life is supported and illustrated by her photographic images (38 breathtakingly beautiful works) and filled with philosophical insights and valuable life lessons. I gobbled it up, savouring some passages like a treasured sweet in my cheek and returning to some to satisfy a craving, repeatedly rereading and reviewing her wise insights.

As Marlene rightfully says, we spend our lives searching for things outside ourselves to complete or make us happy, while all we need is to connect to what is inside us. In A Dance with Life, she not only shares the lessons she has learnt on her own journey through hardships and sorrow but also offers sage advice on how, by changing one’s focus, you can find freedom and, with that, the rhythm to dance with life.

I loved this book so much, and while I would like to share it with many others, I would also like to keep it close so I can revisit it often.

A Dance with Life

Read more about my book A Dance with life https://thevoiceofnature.net/

The time has arrived for you to order my book !‼️

I invite you to step into a state of deep reflection into your own world. Many of us are scared and struggle to fit in, conforming to follow what society tells us to do. Throughout this book you will be inspired to discover your own steps to dance with life and re-connect to your true nature – the jewel that is hidden within each of us – So you can shine your light and start living your best life !

Begin the process by asking yourself “What if our purpose as humans is to dance to nature’s rhythm, to soar like eagles and to truly experience everything that life brings us?”

? LIMITED number of hard copies on order for my South African friends – email me directly on neumann@worldonline.co.za
?WhatsApp 0833213391 please fill out an order form https://bit.ly/3R9MVmT to place your order!
?Read more about my book A Dance with life and order https://thevoiceofnature.net/

The Wisdom the world is waiting for !

Love Marlene ❤️

Listen, learn, capture and WIN Marlene’s book Sky Meets Land

Seeing the Light – Ina van Tonder interviews Marlene Neumann on Landbou Joernaal from Channel 7 on Saturday from 6 -7 am, listen on DSTV’s voice channel 825, via cell phone app or on the website at www.k7.com.na where older broadcasts can be found under ‘potgooi’.
To win a copy of Sky Meets Land send your photos for the competition via WhatsApp to +264 81 128 1553 or by e-mail to landbou@k7.com.na

Guidelines for the competition:

  • Only CELL PHONE photos
  • A maximum of 3 photographs per person
  • Top photographs will be posted on Marlene Neumann’s & Landbou K7 Facebook Pages
  • Join Marlene Neumann’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MarleneNeumann.FineArtPhotography
  • The photograph with the most likes and shares will be the winner
  • Courier cost is included for South Africa/Namibia residents
    To find out more about the photo competition visit Kanaal 7 Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/K7Radio

Ebb & Flow book launch with Marlene

Ebb & Flow book launch

Over 40 people joined Marlene for a special morning to celebrate the launch of her new book, Ebb & Flow.

Marlene shared her connection with nature and her inspiration in capturing her thoughts as she walked on the beach in the early morning.

The profoundly personal hours with Marlene and her enthusiasm and unique outlook of life can be found in the 156 pages of words and images of Ebb & Flow.

Marlene’s words weave a comforting space to face life, its challenges and to savour the magical moments.

Her presentation and talk captured the guests attention and drew them into her world.

Marlene had a delicious sampling of her vegan cooking for her guests. A selection of herbal teas and refreshing mineral water with lemon quenched their thirst.

This was a taster for the body and soul. Amazing, innovative, creative ways to spend time learning from Master Fine Art Photographer Marlene Neumann. This years Saturday morning sessions are well worth attending and include something vegan.

For more information please email neumann@worldonline.co.za

 

Ebb & Flow – Marlene’s new book arrives

Master Fine Art Photographer Marlene Neumann shares her inspiring early morning thoughts.
With captivating, soul-filled photographs. Her images capture a strong connection with nature and reinforce
Marlene’s teaching that is not about the camera, it is about the moment, the connection…

and insightful thoughts.

This pocket size book will keep you pondering…

After months of liaising with the publishers in Singapore the books have arrived. You can order your copy by emailing neumann@worldonline.co.za

The books are R220 excluding postage. Ebb & Flow can be viewed at Marlene’s Centre, 8 Kent Road or

Decorex Johannesburg a great success

Decorex Johannesburg 2018


Marlene exhibited her Exclusive Fine Art Photographs at Decorex in August. Her stand featured work from her extensive dark room and black and white range.

Marlene’s dark room range consists of over 120 images. Her collection spans over a period of 30 years. Her black and white collection ranges from seascapes to desert grass and ancient trees. With new photographs being added this collection was viewed with interest.

People stood in awe and admired Marlene’s unique technique and her extensive portfolio. There was continued support from clients adding to their extensive collections. Her Aloe range and the Doors series were top picks at this year’s show.

Orders can be placed with Marlene neumann@worldonline.co.za and her gallery can be viewed online.

Other items of interest at Decorex were her book Sky meets Land. More than a coffee-table book, it is filled with insight into her profound life purpose. Experience a ‘mindful shift’ when paging through her visual journey and gain understanding into your own life path. Marlene uses the camera as an extension of herself and in that moment it’s as if the viewer sees the world through her eyes. This book is an extraordinary journey, a celebration of life and nature and the significant lessons to be found in the breath taking natural world.

Marlene’s inspiring DVD series, Capturing What People Don’t Talk About, is based on Marlene’s realisation of what it is to be ‘truly human’ and what being authentic really means. The intention in making the series was to provide people seeking answers to their own life struggles with some idea of where, in themselves, to look. From a broader perspective, the objective was to help raise the vibration on the Earth, so that people can more easily become aware of how to live an enriching life.

Marlene book, Sky Meets Land and her DVD series can be ordered directly from Marlene. For more information please email neumann@worldonline.co.za

Marlene is available for consultations and will skillfully match her Fine Art Photographs with your space. For those of you that missed meeting Master Fine Art Photographer Marlene Neumann she will be back in Gauteng for Homemakers in 2019.

Celebrating Life Through a Lens

Read all about Marlene Neumann in Concierge magazine. Julie Graham writes with thoughtful insight in Celebrating Life Through a Lens. The descriptive words and stunning images are a celebration of Marlene’s work.

Paging through the magazine on page 44 you stop mid turn.  Marlene’s striking Black and White image, The Gates, transport you into that tranquil space that she captures in her photographs.

Marlene’s many unique aspects are captured in the article. From her Fine Art Photographs, her book Sky Meets Land and her new DVD series, Capturing What People Don’t Talk About

As Julie observes Marlene’s work is truly in a league of its own.

“My purpose is to ‘shine’, and through this, to allow others to shine,” explains Marlene.

 Read the article online https://bit.ly/2Jm01hl

Contact Marlene for more information neumann@worldonline.co.za

A Sense of Serenity

A Sense of Serenity

With the Change of Season Marlene is focusing on creating A Sense of Serenity. With her diverse portfolio you are spoilt for choice. From her original dark room range to her new Black and White images there is a Fine Art Photograph for every space. Marlene’s Fine Art Photographs hang in homes and offices throughout South Africa and abroad.

Feeling it is time to change the energy in your spaces, Marlene’s tranquil images add a beautiful feeling to your home or office. Email Marlene directly neumann@worldonline.co.za for the various sizes.

Another Successful Decorex Show

Marlene has returned from another successful Decorex show this August! Marlene and her team had a wonderful show at Decorex at Gallagher Estate. Her work found its way into loving homes. If your Office or home needs a new look please contact Marlene at 0833213391

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