African Landscape and Wildlife Photographer – Rob Cooper

Rob Cooper is a fourth generation Zimbabwean born and raised on a farm south of Bulawayo, (‘Place of Slaughter’), the capital of Matabeleland. His great grandparents came up from South Africa in an oxwagon around 1900. After carving a cattle ranch out of the arid mopane scrubland of the Matopos Hills, they succumbed to Blackwater Fever and were buried side by side in the sand. Two of their great grandsons were murdered while working in the fields during the infamous Gukurahundi massacres in the 1980′s and the ranch was abandoned.

After a childhood spent hunting, fishing and riding in the dry savannah grasslands and leopard-infested kopjes of southern Matabeleland, Rob developed a passionate interest in conservation and a love for the magnificent landscapes and wildlife of Africa. This combined well with an interest in black and white photography which he developed while studying at Rhodes University in South Africa in the 1980′s.

When the crisis in Zimbabwe began in 2000, Rob was working as a photojournalist for the international news agency Associated Press. Some of the images he took are amongst the most famous photographs of this troubled time, used in newspapers and magazines around the world, as well as appearing on numerous book covers and the cover of Newsweek.

Rob now spends as much time as he can photographing the magnificent but endangered big game of Zimbabwe’s world-renowned national parks – Hwange, Mana
Pools and Gonarezhou.

The best of the photographs taken on these trips are now being offered for sale internationally as limited edition large black and white prints on fine-art paper or canvas. These are sold unframed, signed and numbered, and can be shipped to anywhere in the world.

Welcome to the newest member of our photography blog, Brent Stirton of Getty Images. Spending most of his time on the assignment, Stirton documents events and conditions impacting the health of the world and its inhabitants. Beautiful images, striking documentaries best describe the portfolio of Brent Stirton.

Brent Stirton is a senior staff photographer for the assignment division of Getty Images, New York. He specializes in documentary work and is known for his alternative approaches. He travels an average of ten months of the year on assignment.

Brent work is published by: National Geographic Magazine, National Geographic Adventure, The Discovery Channel, Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, The London Sunday Times Magazine, Le Express, Le Monde 2, GQ, Geo, Stern, CNN, and many other respected international titles. He also writes a blog for the Discovery Channel which regularly features pictures and stories from his travels.

Brent also works for the Global Business Coalition against Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He has been a long time photographer for the World Wide Fund for Nature, shooting campaigns on sustainability and the environment. He also works for the Ford and Clinton Foundations, the Nike foundation and the World Economic Forum.

Brent has received awards from the Overseas Press Club, the Frontline Club, the Deadline Club, Days Japan, P.O.Y, China International Photo Awards, the Lead Awards, Graphis, American Photography, American Photo and the American Society of Publication Designers as well as the London Association of Photographers. Brent has received 5 awards from the World Press Photo Foundation and has also received awards from the United Nations for his work on the environment and in the field of HIV.

Be sure to check out our OKTOBERFEST contest ….free prizes…ends Oct.31, 2008!

Welcome to the newest member of our photography blog community, wildlife photographer Nick Brandt. His unique style of wildlife photography is hard to put into words. One glimpse of his portfolio and you’ll quickly understand where I’m coming from. Great images, Nick, and continued success with your work!

Few photographers have ever considered the photography of wild animals, as distinctly opposed to the genre of Wildlife Photography, as an art form. The emphasis has generally been on capturing the drama of wild animals IN ACTION, on capturing that dramatic single moment, as opposed to simply animals in the state of being.

I’ve always thought this something of a wasted opportunity. The wild animals of Africa lend themselves to photographs that extend aesthetically beyond the norm of 35mm-color telephoto wildlife photography. And so it is, that in my own way, I would like to yank the subject matter of wildlife into the arena of fine art photography. To take photographs that transcend what has been a largely documentative genre.

Aside from using certain impractical photographic techniques, there’s one thing I do whilst shooting that I believe makes a big difference :
I get extremely close to these very wild animals, often within a few feet of them. I don’t use telephoto lenses. This is because I want to see as much of the sky and landscape as possible–to see the animals within the context of their environment. That way, the photos become as much about the atmosphere of the place as the animals. And being that close to the animals, I get a real sense of intimate connection to them, to the specific animal in front of me. Sometimes a deliberate feeling that they’re almost presenting themselves for a studio portrait.