ALANA ROXIN – Wildlife Photography with Fujifilm
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““Photographs don’t talk, they scream””
3rd generation female photographer.
Born and raised in Mexico City. German and British parents. Certified South African Nature Guide (FGASA). Uncompleted Zoology Studies in Vienna. Entrepreneur. Fashion Student. Living in South Africa.
ounds very broad at first, but let me explain how everything fits together.
With international parents, I was meant to travel and discover the world on my own. Raised by a single mother, independence has never been a far description from who I am as an individual. Watching my mother build a creative empire as a photographer and later as an entrepreneur, created the base of who I was meant to become.
Volunteering for years at animal shelters and veterinarians in my home city, animals have always been part of my core being. This sparked a desire in me to help the ones in need and figure out my life path in the process.
Still clueless about my career path, I arrived in South Africa as a wildlife research and rehabilitation volunteer. For what felt like a blink of an eye, after 7 months I finally found a place I could call home. But still without a degree, my dream of living in the African continent was far from reachable.
This is when Vienna comes into my life, as a teacher of further independence, beginning of studies and personal development. Safe, beautiful and full of life, here it is where I was able to experiment and finally decide to embark in another African Adventure.
After 55 days of hard South African wilderness guiding studies and testing myself every single day in the African Bush, I earned my FGASA qualification as a South African Nature Guide.
Unhappy with my studies back in Vienna, a change erupted. I was gonna pursue my true dream. Wildlife Photography.
Packed my belongings and I moved to South Africa a couple of months later.
Everything seemed to have fallen into the right place and time.
Wildlife Photography was what drove me to Africa, but I have found in all kinds of photography a true expression of self.
My photography has been a constant development throughout the last couple of years that I’ve been based in South Africa. After long evolution process, my own style has finally fulfilled me. I specialize in Black and White Wildlife Photography. Light and contrast lead my viewer through my images, rather than the use of colour. I make use of Telephoto Zoom lenses and I prefer getting up close and personal with my subjects, rather than losing them within their vast environment.
I rarely plan my life. I like being spontaneous and taking all chances possible to visit nature in all forms. This can mean a Natural History Museum or the Wilderness, whatever is in reach in the specific time and place. I learn equally from both, as Museums show me the theory behind animals and the Wilderness shows me the practice of such animals. Reading books about other people experiences in Africa and all across the globe enriches me to be able to read animal behaviour. This helps me to be able to push boundaries between wild animals and myself, but always stay safe. History and wars have affected parts of Africa in a different way and wild animals have been involved in the conflicts all across Africa. Experience is essential, wild animals in different parts of the continent have had different experiences and interactions with humans, and therefore will react differently when approached on foot or on a vehicle.
I’ve got two projects booked for this year, but if opportunity arises, I’ll squeeze a thousand more.
First one is coming up soon, in June. I’ll be traveling North to South of the famous Kruger National Park.
Once one has traveled far, one keeps feeling the urge to travel even further and forgets that we are blessed to have KNP (one of the largest National Parks in the world) right outside our doorstep. Only 4-6 hours drive from Johannesburg. I have traveled to much farther places, but wondered why I haven’t done KNP for longer than 2-3 days. North of Kruger is a Birding paradise, considered the crown-jewel of Kruger. My huge Bird-Nerd-Self can’t wait to use my new set of bino’s and my super fast focusing X-T2. I decided to give it a good try in June-July.
My second project is due in December, in the wild country of Sri Lanka. We expect to find wild Asian Elephants in the good guiding hands of the locals and hope to be lucky enough to see one of the most endangered species in the world. The Sri Lanka Leopard. Who knows what we will find, but let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Stay glued to our platform to see what we found!
Alana Roxin
Instagram: https://goo.gl/nSU8h5
Facebook: https://goo.gl/cuGH8V
Website: https://goo.gl/a6trNG
