I am a South African, currently living in Switzerland and have come back to photography after a long period of absence; Digital photography has re-invigorated this hobby for me and I am currently passionately involved in making pictures again. Gone are the days of struggling to open a film cassette in the dark, of having the smell of chemicals on your person but also gone is the thrill of watching the image slowly emerge in the developer. So, for me, this is a new era in my photographic hobby.

A picture interacts with the viewer first and foremost via the eyes - if the picture is visually strong, it will be easier to generate an emotional impact within the viewer - this is obvious, but is sometimes forgotten. In many of the photographs that I make, I strive for strong visual impact, which I do not always achieve.

A friend sent me the link to OneXposure and I am so, so glad that he did. The standard of photography here, from all corners of the earth, is simply put - fantastic. I am visually thrilled every day, when I look at those pictures that have made it through the strict acceptance standards here. The photographers have different styles, choose different subject matter but all have one thing in common - they exhibit an extremely high standard of artistic talent and photographic skill.

I am looking forward to continually learning from and to being enthused by the photographic talents of others here. I hope to eventually also leave some of my own visual memories here on OneXposure.

Awards/Publishes/Exhibitions:

Finalist - 31st Annual Spring Photography Contest, Photographers Forum Magazine
210 Photographers, OneXposure Yearbook 2009
In Pursuit of the Sublime, OneXposure Yearbook 2010
Artenschutz, Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt, 2009
Second International Exhibition of Photography, March 2012, Iraq

After 3 years on 1X, I added this bit that I've copied from the forum post on Photographer in the Spotlight #32:

My style today, I would best describe as "opportunistic". I have, after many years, realized that I think graphically as a person. I read well and can dissect complicated things fairly well, but I do this at my best when I am presented them in graphic form (or mathematical form) because then I can, at a glance "see the whole picture", so to speak. Maybe this is why photography attracts me so much. Opportunistic to me in this sense, means taking the picture if it somehow resonates with my visual system at that instant. My portfolio here has pictures in the categories, Portrait, Landscape, Street, Conceptual etc.

So, it can be said that I have a less-clear photographic/artistic vision than so many of the wonderful artists I have learned to know from their work on OneXposure. I am simply opportunistic in my approach and take the picture if I like it visually; almost a spur-of-the-moment thing.