______________________________

Kirsten is only 17, but the grade 12 school boy from Cape Town has already built up a formidable portfolio. “My father and I shared a passion for the outdoors,” says Kirsten over a drink of cooldrink at his home in Table View. “Together, we visited many of South Africa’s national parks and nature reserves. I went to the Kruger Park for the first time in 2005 and it was there that I took an interest in photography. I only had a point-and–shoot camera at the time, but still I spent hours wondering around the rest camps in search of interesting subjects.”

Kirsten’s father died in October 2006 after a battle with cancer. In December of that year, Hedrus van der Merve, the owner of Outdoorphoto, an online photography shop and forum for amateur wildlife photographers, came across some of Kirsten’s photographs made with his point-and-shot, and was touched by his story that he and others gave Kirsten a secondhand Canon 10D and 400mm lens.

With better gear, Kirsten was able to pursue his passion for photographing Africa and its wild animals in a manner that would have made his father proud. And although he spends most of his time in and around Cape Town, he has been back to the Kruger National Park - a place close to his heart – twice.

- Jon Minster, extract from Go! Magazine

______________________________