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Truth through a lens

It takes a special type of connectedness between the observer and the camera lens to capture images that conveys emotion just as much as information.

In his first solo exhibition as a photographer, wildlife management expert Richard Fryer takes his audience on an imaginary trip to share with them his many close observations of detail and meaning.
A shipwreck is a shipwreck but the way Fryer captures it as an image, it tells a story of misfortune, endurance and ultimately, loss. This image is one of twenty large, awe-inspiring images forming part of a series he made while touring the Skeleton Coast, Damaraland and the Kaokoveld.
The large, canvas-printed photographs were taken using a Canon and are part of Fryer’s personal archive, documenting his extensive travels throughout Namibia.
Fryer, the son of well-known Namibian wildlife painter Dick Fryer, like his father, initially embarked on a career as a game warden. He was employed by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism from 1991 to 2006 as head of the Game Capture Unit and managed the Rhino Custodianship Scheme.
Fryer went private in 2006 and joined Wilderness Safaris as project manager, tourguide and guide trainer. While touring through Namibia, his guests encouraged him to take up photography. Fryer is currently a full-time wildlife photographer, freelancer and wildlife consultant to most notably, the Namibian charter of the World Wildlife Fund and the Namibia Nature Foundation.
The countryside holds no secrets for an experienced adventurer like Richard Fryer. He knows every nook and cranny of the country which lends a powerful authenticity to Fryer’s images which is rarely seen in photography depicting Namibian wildlife and landscapes.
Displayed to perfection on very large canvases, photographs (including aerial shots) of wildlife and scenery from Elizabeth Bay and Lüderitz in the south, through the Sperrgebiet, the Skeleton Coast, right up to the Kunene River mouth, show his incredible sense of depth and detail, while the scope of his landscapes and aerial photographs perfectly captures the majesty of that ancient geography.
With a focus on desert-adapted wildlife such as elephants and antelope, his images juxtapose the austerity of the Namib Desert with the brittle fragility of its living ecologies, as if he wishes to preserve both their essence and existence. In the background, running invisibly through the large canvases like a fine thread, is a deep-seated concern and compassion for nature which is particularly noticeable in his wildlife photographs. This is an exhibition not to be missed.
Richard Fryer has meticulously selected the most captivating and poignant from his collection for this exhibition. Ideal for interior decorators, architects, corporates, designers but also collectors, the size of the large full-colour canvases has the effect of drawing the observer into the scene or landscape.

TRUE REFLECTIONS
Photographic Exhibition by Richard Fryer
Venue: Omba Gallery
Opens: Tuesday 31 March 2015.
Time: 17:30 for 18:00
The exhibition runs until 19 April

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