Our story
About
It seems to me, that we humans are not terribly different from other animals at all; that we are all complex, emotional beings, that have far more in common than not. It is this commonality that I try to express in my images as a way to better understand ourselves, and a way to better understand, relate to and value the other species with whom we share our planet.
While most of my images feature birds or other animals, I don’t consider myself a wildlife photographer. My goal when creating an image is to express emotion, which is why I love black and white photography. The absence of colour has the effect, for me, of breaking the surface tension of reality, and giving one a peek into the essence below.
The wonderfully intimate wildlife images of Frans Lanting were one of my earliest inspirations. As much as I still love wildlife photography, I found myself greatly inspired by the dreamy, poetic work of visual artists like Hengki Lee and the gritty street images of photographers like Olga Karlovac. I started using the original image as a starting point and allowing myself to depart from the reality of the captured moment, using other elements and techniques to express what I felt – combining wildlife with dramatic weather and textures, blur and intentional camera movement to name a few.
All of the animals in my images are wild, free, unbaited in any way and encountered in their natural habitat. Most of the time this is in one of Southern Africa’s wonderful wildlife reserves, to which I take several trips a year. But I’m also fortunate to share my home with an abundance of birds, two species of antelope, scrub hares, three species of mongoose, caracal, genet, porcupine, black backed jackal, a few too many arachnids and reptiles for complete comfort, and a host of other critters.
I live in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands of South Africa, with a wonderful partner and a small zoo: six dogs, three cats, a rescued Macaw, two rescued Goffin’s Cockatoos, two rescued fish tanks, six rescued guinea pigs, Koekoek chickens, bees and a small flock of Zulu sheep. Fortunately we live on a beautiful smallholding, so there is plenty of space for everybody.