Tales From The Bush

Hannes’s photos are featured in go! regularly – in fact, this is his seventh portfolio.

- Shelley Christians

I’m sure that’s a record for the most portfolios in the magazine! No wonder, since he has the ability to immerse himself completely in the wilderness. His patience and dedication always result in mesmerizing images.

Once Hannes settles in an area, he spends years there, trying to capture its very essence. He lived in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park for five years and spent three years in the Okavango Delta. For the past two years, he and his wife Noa have been scouting areas to begin a new project in 2020. He wants to focus on a smaller area this time, a place where there are lots of interactions between different species. After all, as Hannes says, “A wildlife photographer is a storyteller.”

In this portfolio, he shares some tales from the bush.

Hornbill skirmish

While lying in a hammock on a hot afternoon in Mabuasehube, in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Hannes noticed a few southern yellow-billed hornbills arrive at the campsite, obviously looking for scraps.

More and more arrived and suddenly there were as many as 20. Bugs were flying everywhere in the long grass and a feeding frenzy began.