The concept of Darkroom Collective is to present the visual works of photographer Sara Gouveia on a platform where a group of musicians improvise to a slide show. The photographs are projected onto a screen every 60 seconds, allowing the musicians the time to let the music adapt to each image. For fluidity in concept the concert moves through various visual themes of different natures from portraits of children, to landscapes, to portraits of rural families and others. This allows the musicians the space to portray various moods with their sounds. The band will mix improvisations with themes using the languages of jazz and electronica as influences.

Shane Cooper – Bass, loops
The Audio part of the collective is put together for each event by Shane Lee Cooper, co-founder of sound production company Aperture Audio, bass player for the Restless Natives, Fly Paper Jet, and 2009 SAMA nominee Babu. For the first event he has put together a trio with some of Cape Town’s finest musicians, trumpeter Lee Thomson and drummer Jonno Sweetman.

Jonno Sweetman - drums
Jonno is currently a member of the amazing jazz trio called Offshore. This band has been together for 4 years and has moulded Jonno into the player he is now. Offshore was invited to perform at the 2008 Cape Town International Jazz Festival and has worked with New York-based saxophonist Sam Thomas and US guitarist and proponent of Thelonious Monk’s music, Gary Wittner. The trio is also the rhythm section in Jonathan Crossley Electric Band’s 2007 recording, Funk for the Shaolin Monk. Jonno has also played with top jazz artists including Buddy Wells, Marcus Wyatt, Wessel van Rensburg, Herbie Tsolie, Rus Nerwich, Mark Fransman, Jason Reolon and Edith Klug just to name a few. Being a resident in the city of Cape Town now has given him the opportunity to work with many more great musicians.

Lee Thomson – trumpet, fx
Lee is a well-known Cape Town based musician. He has worked with Springbok Nude Girls, Freshlyground, Fuzigish, Goldfish, Hog Hoggidy Hog and was part of Silent Revolution. He regularly works with Golliwog, Restless Natives, Closet Snare and Mark Fransman’s superb Strait and Narro’ outfit. Lee has done a number of international gigs and has featured at every major South African Music Festival. He has also toured around Asia, Europe and South America with various bands. He has a strong interest in jazz and over the last year has become quiet interested in electronic music. Lee has put together gigs for international bands and musicians including NOFX, Lagwagon, Mad Caddies and various top international jazz musicians. He also plays a management role in most of his projects which has afforded him a wealth of experience within the music business. He has also played for the Violent Femmes.

Sara Gouveia - photographs
Sara Gouveia is a Documentary Photographer based in Cape Town. She has a MA in International Photojournalism, Documentary and Travel Photography from the University of Bolton, part of an international study program with placement in Dalian, China. In her work Sara analyses changes that occur with time, namely the ones influenced by tourism and abandonment of heritage. By documenting these changes she aims at questioning how much we neglect our past, underlining the importance of maintaining a connection to our history. Sara has exhibited work, both as a solo artist as well as in group exhibitions, in Portugal, the United Kingdom, China and South Africa and has had her work featured in various publications. She has participated in a number of competitions having won the first prize of the “Dalian in your eyes” competition in 2007. She has also curated exhibitions in the U.K. and China. Work with NGO’s includes Médicos do Mundo - Portugal, and Um Pequeno Gesto Uma Grande Ajuda - ONGD.