My love and compassion for nature has always been a part of my life. From a very early age I’ve wanted to be in nature and have always had a very deep connection to plants, animals and the elements that surround us. I thought everyone had that same connection as I did until I started teaching others about seeing the light and dark in everything.
I remember so clearly my Mom telling me to stop dressing in leaves in the garden when I was 7 years old. She knew I was different from her other daughters and was only trying to keep me safe. But that connection with nature that I’ve had throughout my life wasn’t allowed within my strict upbringing and the education system I went through.
I’ve always felt a deep connection to everything around me which others around me could never understand. When I went fishing with my father I just knew where to cast my little rod to catch fish he couldn’t understand my “luck”. I was simply connected to my higher spirit and my intuition and followed the guidance my soul was giving me.
When I was 14 I learnt how to use a camera at school and was introduced to the darkroom we had there. I’ve never looked back. The camera, nature and the process of creating positive photographs from negative film is just as magical now for me as 44 years ago.
For the past 40 years I’ve taught people to connect with themselves through the joy of soul photography and nature, 20 of those from my gallery and Centre of Photography and Light in the Eastern Cape. Nature is a the most brilliant teacher showing us that the rhythm of life is available for everyone if we surrender to the moment and allow our own inner serenity to connect us to who we really are.
When my world was turned upside down with a diagnosis of breast cancer at the age of 38, I knew I had to change how I was living my life. I learnt how to really know myself, owning the darkness of all my shadows and challenges that I’d faced up to that point. It made me stop and choose life. I decided how to make my life count by accepting myself for who I am – the Voice of Nature.
There’s been many more challenges and triumphs since then, which you can read about in my book, A Dance with Life. My deep love for nature inspired me to create the Buckaroo Project which has helped thousands of dogs and their human supporters over the past 9 years. For now, as you’re here, I want to encourage you to connect with your true nature through a new lens on your life. Nature surrounds us wherever we live – we breathe air, we walk on the earth. There are insects and little beings all around us. Nature is wanting to teach us how to be human if we would only listen.
I’ve resisted sharing my voice of nature until now, as I thought that my spiritual photographs of nature were enough. By resisting though, I’m not being my true self. I thought I’d be having a quieter time as I got older, enjoying nature with my animal friends!
It feels that my spirit is guiding me to share my soul photography more widely! So here I am, sharing the Voice of Nature with you from the bottom of my heart to touch yours.
I invite you to journey with me through nature, with a camera or your phone as your guide to connect with your true spirit, to be in flow with your life so you can dance to your own tune and be free to be you.
We’re going to have fun together that’s for sure. Join me in a workshop, in the Wild at Heart Retreat , the Meditation Circle or through the pages of my books or my videos. Why don’t you invite me to be an inspirational speaker at your next event and encourage a wider group to live life more fully?
Let’s share the magic of life through photography and nature together and encourage others to discover the jewel of who we are and shine our lights and live our very best lives on this beautiful earth.
A selection of my achievements are collated here.
Some of my extensive range of photographs – Dark Room Collection and Black and White Series are shown in the videos below.
My book A Dance with Life is available worldwide in print and ebook format.
My books Sky meets Land and Ebb and Flow can be bought directly from me.
