A bit about me

The rather staid, censored version goes something like this..

I’m a self-taught photographer, working out of my hometown, Cape Town, South Africa. EDIT: I moved to St Helena Bay in 2023, the home of pilchards, up the west coast, and loving it. As a longtime surfer, the sea runs rich in my veins. EDIT EDIT: As of 1st Jan, 2026, Montagu.

Over the past 40 years, I have photographed in just six countries, am not included in any Time, National Geographic, New York Times, or Newsweek publications; nor held solo exhibitions in New York, London and Paris, or anywhere, for that matter, and my work is not showcased in any private or institutional collection around the world.

My only formal training was with the New York Institute of Photography. I did their correspondence course while living in London, way back in pre-internet 1980. I’d post my photos, taken with a Nikon FMII, to New York, and wait for my next assignment and results via return post. I do, however, attend many lectures by amazing photographers at Uni of Youtube.. ;)

The business of life intruded. I did my stint in the corporate world (important to have on one’s CV, as you know) before starting my own IT company, which still pays the bills, fortunately. A true love/hate relationship. I’m plotting my way out to pursue things closer to my passion(s).

A turning point occurred at the beginning of the COVID chaos, in 2020, when someone wanted to buy some photos. The fact that the photos were taken with my cellphone was a deal breaker, the resolution being too low for enlarging. That prompted me to buy a camera-camera: a Black Friday special on an entry-level Canon 2000D, now put out to pasture when it died on me.

My photos are really random as you can see; I’m not committed to any particular genre. All taken with intention, whatever that may mean.

They are just the way I inherently view life, not only in terms of compositions, colours and vignettes, but also real-world stuff. A slight complication (or maybe my super-power, lol) is I’m radically colour-blind, and the butt of jokes with my friends, but it does give me license to go garish! Or resort to B&W, which often is more suitable, anyway.

Influences from my youth might be my piles of Nat Geo (my folks had a subscription) and surfing mags, artistic family and friends, and great abstract, cubist and impressionist art et al, gracing the walls of our childhood home.

All I can say is I haven’t had so much fun in many years, reconnecting with my suppressed creative self.

And, if you’ve read this far, thank you for sticking around!

Best to you,

Perry

PS. If you’d like to get in touch, please drop me a message, and/or join my mailing list for the occasional newsletter. I’d love to hear from you!

My anthem since about the age of 17…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v13Ei1B9rpA&list=RDv13Ei1B9rpA&start_radio=1

Being able to do a squat comes in handy :) Silvermine Nature Reserve.

Photo by Sylvie.

One of the few times I’ve used a tripod.

photo by Sylvie