About me
“I started out in the early eighties as a film photographer.
My early romance with every roll of film was a drama of discovering something completely different to my expectations. The expectations that you build up in the time it takes to process the film are often totally opposite to what the final results are. Sometimes it’s bad, sometimes it’s good. Either way, the very nature of learning to shoot film was mostly like learning to play golf or having a love affair with a mad Spanish actress in a Almodovar movie.
I gave up photography 6 times in my twenties but eventually crawled back permanently to the love of the mystery and delight of the moment seeing my images for the first time. Every now and then luck, skill and subject matter would conspire to "blow my own mind", in that instant, hovering over the light box at the lab; I found my highest joy, my greatest purpose, the best of my talents.
I feel sorry for younger photographers who have never known this passion. Perhaps they do find something similar but it doesn't have the highs and lows of what we had.
I think that digital beats film for most things , but if you want to fill your heart with a little romance, shoot film and leave your digital camera at home.”
Biography
Born in 1961
Bethlehem Voortrekker High 1978
Pretoria Technicon 1981
Worked for Frank Gross 1981
First Exhibition: Market Gallery 1981
Army 1982-1983
Freelanced in Johannesburg 1984-1989
Shot stills and focus pulled on several movies
Second exhibition: Portraits in a Tent 1985
Third exhibition: Namaqualand 1987
Fourth exhibition: Flowers and plants 2001
General editorial and commercial work 1990 onwards
Media 24 Photographer of the year 2009
Media 24 award for best Visuals joint winner 2010
The Black studio opens March 2011
5th exhibition "Himba" March 2012
6th Exhibition: New creative work Nov 2012
Portrait series “Men” May 2013 -
"Trickshaw Pickshaw" Afrikaburn 2013
"The mutant studio" Afrikaburn 2015
Moved in to 89 Forest drive studio June 2017
Influences:
Irving Penn
Paul Strand
Ansel Adams
Dorethea Lange
Annie Liebowitz
Jozef Koudelka
André Kertész
August Sander