Omo Valley, Ethiopia © Chris Tinkler
‘Although I take my work seriously, I cannot take myself seriously.’
– Don McCullin, photographer
This site is full of lots of fantastic images taken by lots of fantastic photographers. While I would like our credit list at the bottom of this page to recognise them all, I know it does not – many are the work of photographers-for-hire, their work used to promote lodges, camps and hotels. Thank you to every single one of you – named and unnamed – for your work. Without it we would be unable to convey what it is we do, and why we love it so.
I’d especially like to thank a handful of individuals, with whom I’ve had the good fortune to either work or travel. Every one of them has been extraordinarily generous – with their time and with their work. I give a bit of context for each below, but before I do, they are Don McCullin, Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher, Stevie Mann, Alistair Taylor-Young, Sophy Roberts, and Cam Anderson Raffan.
Don McCullin
I’ve been fortunate enough to have travelled with Don a few times, most recently to Eritrea. Together with his partner the writer Catherine Fairweather, he has been a wonderful supporter of the cause, and I am extremely grateful to him for the use of his images. I love his approach, his irreverence, his humanity, the fact that he never forgets why he does what he does. He once said: ‘I only use a camera like a toothbrush. It does the job.’ The three below images of an old army scrapheap in Asmara and with the Rashaida are his – as is the main in-page image in Story, again of that scrapheap. Our trip to Eritrea was an absolute eye opener, and Don has managed to capture why.
Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher
Like Don, Carol and Angela’s reputations precede them. They have spent the last 40 years cataloging Africa’s traditional cultures, many of which have since disappeared. A collection of 500,000 photographs, their work – the Beckwith and Fisher Archive – is to be placed with a yet-to-be-selected institution that will allow free access to academics, researchers and the public. Both have been incredibly supportive of Journeys by Design and Wild Philanthropy. Again, I’m very grateful to them for the use of two of their images, one of Dinka herders in South Sudan, the other of a Salampasu warrior in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as featured on our RARE pages.
Entering the cattle camp at dusk, we were transported into a lifestyle of harmony and connectedness, an inseparable bonding between nature, animals, and man.
Stevie Mann
Stevie is dear friend. I’ve known him since we were little, having met at the Banda School in Nairobi, Kenya. As he says in his biography, there was no thought then that he would become a professional photographer. He wanted to be a rally driver, and if not that, then a rock star or secret agent. However, Stevie has been taking photographs for as long as I’ve known him – he and I were members of the same wildlife photography club at school. I’m delighted he carried on, and hugely thankful for the use of his images, which are spotted about the site. The below image of Lake Pogipi in northern Kenya is his, as is the blinder that heads up Services.
Alistair Taylor-Young
A Conde Nast Traveler favourite, fantastic travelling companion, and often to be found in the adventuring company of the writer Stanley Stewart, Alistair is one of the most versatile photographers I know – fashion, landscape, beauty, film – and possesses a way of seeing that rubs out the unnecessary. For what I mean by this, have a look at any of his images on this site, and especially the RARE in-page shots of Sossusvlei in Namibia, the camel train in the Danakil in north-eastern Ethiopia on Activism, and the boys playing on Contact, the last of which I repeat below, less our filter. Alistair’s quite brilliant, and exceedingly generous with it.
Sophy Roberts
Another dear friend, equally fantastic travel companion, and great thinker, Sophy’s a travel writer who happens to have a fantastic eye, as her Instagram account more than shows. I know the last thing she’ll want is to be included here, among such company, but I love her wit, her bottomless interest in people, and her ability to frame moments few of us see – all of which is captured in the image we’ve used on the News landing page. It was taken on a memorable trip to the Republic of Congo, which we took together with Roland Purcell. I’ve included it below less our crop and colour manipulation.
Photo Credit: Sophy Roberts
Cam Anderson Raffan
A self-taught phenomenon, I first met Cam and his partner Kate Malone at Greystoke Mahale, which they ran for a time before turning safari consultants and working on the tourism side of things at Virunga Park. They would go on to do a fantastic stint for us in the Omo, where they helped transform Lale’s Camp. Cam learnt his trade photographing birds in Botswana, ‘a difficult subject’, requiring that he ‘quickly hone my photography skills.’ His images are spotted across the site, though I’m especially blown away by the chimpanzee that heads up Story and by the in-text chimpanzee on RARE. They are fantastically intimate portraits.
Chris Tinkler and Simon Morris
In addition to the above, I need to highlight the work of Chris Tinkler and Simon Morris. Excellent amateur photographers, Chris and Simon used to work for Journeys by Design. Their pictures are all over the site, some of which – I’m happy to report – are beginning to make their way out into the world under their names. Chris’s image of a Kara woman is the one you landed on above, as is the below shot of Bet Giyorgis (Church of St George) in Lalibela in Ethiopia. You can find examples of Simon’s wonderful repertoire across the site – though do see the hero and the zebra on Wild Philanthropy for another two marvels.
Other credits
&Beyond, Abbey Manor, African Bush Camps, Akagera Lodge, Alex Hunter, Diana Hunter, Alfajiri, Alta Bay, Angela Sacha, Art of Ventures, Asilia Lodges and Camps, Axum Hotel, Azura, Baraza Resort and Spa, Banyan Tree, Benguerra Island Lodge, Birkenhead House, Blue Gum Estate, Borana, Botswana Tourist Board, Bush Homes, Bushman’s Kloof, Cameron Anderson Raffan, Cape Cadagon, Cape Tourist Board, Cape Town Tourism, Cape Town and Western Cape, Caroline Culbert, Cheli & Peacock lodges and camps, Chiawa Camp, Chumbe island, Classic Representation, Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge, Constantia Uitsig, Craig Zendel, Crookes and Jackson, Dana Allen, Davis Hall, Desert Rose, Dook, Duba Plains Camp, Dugong Lodge, Ellerman House and Villas, Emmerson Spice, Emmerson on Hurumzi Hotel, Escape+Explore, Ethiopian Tourist Board, Ezard House, Fairlawns, Four Rosemead, Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff, Frankie McCarthy, Fregate Island, Fugitives’ Drift Lodge, Fundu Lagoon, Funzi Keys, Gheralta Lodge, Ghion Hotels Group, Gibbs Farm Safaris, Gill Marshall-Andrews, Gordon Owles, Gorilla Doctors, Governors Camps, Grande Roche, Great Plains Conservation, Greenfields Hotel, Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, Guido Cozzi, Hal Thompson, Andy Haslam, Hilton Hotels, Hippo Point & The Tower, Hotel Heinitzburg, Hunters Hotels, Ibo Island Lodge, Impodimo Lodge, Jaco Bekker, Jack Hargraves, Jerusalem Guest House, Jimmy Greenwood, Kanana camps, Kate Holmes, Katy Barker & Dhow House, Kensington Place, Kenya Tourist Board, Ker & Downey Safaris, Kevin Matto, Kicheche Camp, Kitich Camp, Kiwayu Safari Lodge, Kizingo, Kizingoni houses, Klein Genot, Kwando Safaris, KwaZulu Natal Tourist Board, La Petite Ferme, Lara Lowis, La Residence, Lanzerac Hotel and Spa, Le Quartier Francais, Les Cascades, Lion Sands, Londo Lodge, Londolozi, Macushla House, Makenas Hills, Marlin Lodge, Max Melesi, Mbono Camp, Matemwe Bungalows, Meket Community Tourism Walk, Michael Poliza, Mihingo Lodge, Mike Myers, Hotel des Mille Collines, Mowani Mountain Lodge, Murulle Lodge, Mushara, M. Zublena, Namibia Tourist Board, Ndali Lodge, Ndutu safari Lodge, Ngare Sero, Nkwichi Lodge, Nicholas Spencer, Ninian Lowis, Nomad Tanzania, Norman Carr Safaris, Offbeat Safaris, Okonjima & Africat Foundation, Ol Donyo Wuas, Olive Grove Hotel, Oria Douglas Hamilton, Orient Express Hotels, Paul Callcutt, Palms Hotel, Peponi Hotel, Peter Marshall for I Am Water, Plantation Lodge, Praveen Moman, Private Wilderness, Quilalea Lodge, Rani Resorts, Ras Nungwi, Remhai Hotel, Ride Kenya, Rites of Passage, Rivertrees Lodge, Robin Pope Safaris, Rob Stowers, Roggeland Country House, Rovos Rail, Royal African Safaris, Royal Malewane, Rwanda Tourist Board, Sabi Sabi, Samatian Island Lodge, Sanctuary Lodges, Sanctuary Retreats, Sarara, Saruni Lodges, Sausage Tree Camp, Saxon, Scot Sellers, Selous Safari Camp, Semliki Safaris, Serena Hotels, Selinda Adventure Trail, Serian Serengeti, Sheraton Hotels, Simien Lodge, Simon Morris, Sindabezi Island, Singita, Sirikoi Camp, Skeleton Coast Safaris, South Africa Tourist Board, Southern Sun Hotels, Stevie Mann Photography for Lowis & Leakey, Swakopmund Hotel, Tanzania Tourist Board, Tessa Vestey, The Bay Hotel, The Blue Train, The Tukul Village, Time + Tide, Tongabezi, Tropic Air, Trust for African Schools, Tswalu Kalahari, Twelve Apostles, Uncharted Africa, Volcanoes Safaris, Welgelegen Boutique Hotel, Wilderness Safaris, Will Jones, Wolwedans, Zambezi Sun, Zambian Tourist Board.