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I’ve always had a keen interest in film. I grew up traveling South Africa with my family and photographing wild animals and beautiful landscapes. I realized that my dream career was one that would take me to the most beautiful places in the world where I’d have amazing adventures and meet people from all walks of life so I became a cinematographer and a fisherman – thus guaranteed of the best of all worlds! I graduated AFDA (African school of film and Dramatic Arts) with honours as Best Cinematographer in 1999 and immediately began work on some of the great drama series (Yizo Yizo) and feature films to come out of South Africa. Commercials with SA’s finest directors followed and I’m glad to say that my work has earned many awards locally and internationally. Of course the love of water meant that scuba diving was a must. So seventy percent of the earth got a little more accessible. The BMW “Freediver” commercial, which we shot in the Red Sea was a great way to experience all of my passions in one go. I feel that the caliber of creative and visual boards that come out of SA are of excellent standard and I really enjoy the challenge of taking a board to it’s greatest potential. Making music videos is one of my favourite ways of expressing visual creativity because you can articulate yourself more freely. Those that I’ve done in Nigeria and Mozambique have been really well received for their texture and authentic vision of our continent’s rich culture. Because I’ve had extensive experience with both film and HD, I’m regularly called upon to lecture on all formats and although I will always have a firm love of film, my regard for HD is growing continuously. The Red camera has gained a lot of my attention recently and I’m closely involved with the camera’s introduction into the country and the workflow procedures being put in place by one of our top Post Production facilities. My style of cinematography is quite different in that I take great care to bring visual storytelling to the forefront of the pictures. Each project I undertake should have it’s own specific look and therefore stand out from the rest of the visual information flooding through viewers eyes continuously. Even a pack shot should tell a story and so from the widest vistas to the tightest eye-lash shot, I aim to ensure that each frame captures a tone and depth that makes it interesting. I therefore spend as much time possible referencing and work-shopping ideas and styling with each Director I work with. I’m working on a fishing documentary at the moment and looking forward to a Feature in the States and of course a steady flow of great commercials. So I’m living my dream – aren’t I lucky! |
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