About the Artist

"If enough people care about Africa's creatures, they won't disappear"

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Living MY passion

Sometimes when I drive over a Kalahari dune in my huge Toyota Land cruiser camper, the local folk must ask themselves in Afrikaans, ‘Ek, wat de hell is dit?’ Not surprising, since there are only two vehicles like mine in Africa. And the other one is not driven by a 5’3” North American female photographer and artist who criss-crosses African parks half of each year. It is an enviable lifestyle, created in a very roundabout way!

After earning a Masters degree in geography (U.B.C. Canada, 1974), I worked as a planner in Vancouver and Los Angeles, where urbanization constantly overpowered Nature. Then, I fulfilled a lifelong dream to visit East Africa in 1981, and returned eager to share impressive wildlife images with others, perhaps to inspire them to save wilderness. But how?

I had no art training, and an inexpensive mirror lens was my best piece of photographic equipment. So I decided to turn my hobby of tapestry weaving into a career. One by one, I jumped the necessary design and marketing hurdles, until my wildlife tapestries were featured in numerous exhibitions, including “Bateman Selects” juried by Robert Bateman, 1986, and “Wildlife in Tapestry" that I curated at the Center for Tapestry Arts, New York, 1989, and my articles appeared in various magazines, including Southwest Art, Oct. 1989.

Eight years later, as Nelson Mandela negotiated his release from prison in 1989, I accompanied a wildlife photographer to Namibia and South Africa. It was shocking to see how quickly Africa’s wilderness had shrunk due to population and political changes. I needed a portable art medium that would allow me to spend more time in the bush – and found it the moment I looked through my companion’s 150-600mm Canon lens! I was hooked. I had to record the wonderful world revealed in that magnificent lens.

I started photographing from a tiny rental car, but now live in “Moose”, a Toyota Land cruiser 4X4 truck, with a fiberglass camper body custom built on a specially lengthened chassis. It’s tough, big and ugly but it can be repaired in any dorp (village) in Africa - a comforting thought on the back-roads of Zimbabwe! It’s truly a bush photographer’s dream home and shooting platform.

Many great lenses (including that amazing Canon zoom) have helped me capture the special world seen through the still camera. Back in cities, I interpret my photos in acrylic paintings in a watercolor style. With charcoal, I sketch African mud cloth patterns in the shadows and on the animals, to symbolize their connection with the people of the great continent. Collage and silk painting are secondary mediums, as I still love working with texture and fabric.

Since 1989, for half of each year, I have camped and photographed in African parks – often on my own – adapting to vast and varied landscapes, the changing people, and the often disturbing crime and politics. All on a tight budget. Afraid? Sometimes, but Africa’s natural beauty – and the unique perspective of the camera – always overwhelms any fears that might draw me back into North America’s secure routines. For that, I am eternally grateful.

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