Kalahari

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

South Africa | Monday, November 7, 2011 | 5 photos

Hi my name is Brett Pearson I am a 37year old Australian employed as a Radio Technician by the Western Australian Police. I manage the maintenance of the largest radio network in the southern hemisphere.

I am a late comer into the world of photography only starting in 2007. I have always had a passion for African big cats, which is how I got started into photography in the first place.

In 2004 I read an article detailing how the Leopards were getting persecuted and there numbers were declining at an alarming rate.

I had to help.

The next year I was a volunteer on a Leopard project in South Africa and saw the hard work that was being done to save the Leopards. I really wanted to make a difference. I knew I could not to it financially so I came up with an idea that if I was able to take some amazing photos they could be used to raise awareness around the world. I have been back to the project every year for the last 6 years.

I am still very new in the way of photography; I am still learning and finding my style. I think that this scholarship would be an invaluable learning experience that would help me in my quest to protect the Leopards.

These are my photos from a trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Kalahari.

I tried to show the vulnerable side of Africa with these photos. The little Meerkats comforting each other, the Leopard searching for her cub, the young male Lion on the brink of adulthood, the Jackal calling for its mate before a storm and the tiny drop of colour of the Bee-eater in the desert.

I hope you enjoy them.