Will Moving To Another Country Change My Photography?

It has been a couple of hectic and exciting weeks for my family and me: we recently became US citizens, and it has been decided that in January I will relocate to South Africa for my day job.

The preparations for these events not only had a direct impact on my blog schedule (you probably noticed that I missed posting a couple of times); my relocation date approaching fast made me realize that moving to another country probably will change the genres and style of my photography and possibly also the content of this blog.

For a start, some of the projects I am currently working on will have to be put on hold until I am permanently back in the US. Furthermore, the type of photography and photographic subjects I will look at will probably be quite different from what I have been doing here in the US.

While a great country to live in, South Africa, unfortunately, has some characteristics that might make taking pictures as I currently do a bit more challenging. Especially from a personal safety perspective. At the same time, however, there will be new opportunities to create great images of cities, people, and the country in general.

So let's have a look at the genres of photography that I possibly can pursue while on assignment.

Wildlife Photography

This genre is probably the first that comes to mind when thinking about photography in a country like South Africa. As you can see from my Wildlife portfolio, I did quite some of this type of photography when I previously lived there. However, since I made a substantial change to the tools I use, and since I am not looking at changing again, I don't think that will be a venue I really will pursue.

Landscape Photography

Also, almost a 'no-brainer' when living in a country as beautiful as South-Africa. And this type of photography actually is quite achievable with the equipment I plan to bring: my trusted Fuji X-Pro1 with at least one wide-angle lens. The catch here, however, is that I don't plan to travel very much this time to places that provide the great landscape opportunities I would be looking for. So probably not.

Travel Photography

This could be an easy one, as it can be considered a combination of a couple of the other types mentioned in this post: wildlife, landscape, architectural, documentary. Maybe a bit more focused on the typical tourist destinations and topics. Maybe throw in some food photography. But to be honest, and although I appreciate the work and effort it takes to create good travel photography: it feels a bit too much of a 'catch-all', a bit 'meh'. From the other side, however, it could align well with my general approach and motivation for photography: to tell stories. So, who knows. \

Street Photography

With South Africa's diverse culture and the great people living there, this definitely is something I would like to do. I am aware that roaming the streets of South African cities and towns with a camera in hand will be more challenging from a safety perspective than it is in other countries. But I have done it before, and I definitely want to give this a try.

Documentary Photography

South Africa is a country that continues to go through a lot of change, of with a lot happening. As with street photography (which I consider to be documentary photography's sister), safety can be an issue here too. I was already looking into this photographic genre for some of the projects I started working on here in the US, and it definitely is an interesting option for South Africa. So let's see what will happen.

Architectural Photography

Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, small rural towns. Architecture definitely is present. But to be honest, going through all the images I made when living there I realized I never took any specific images from buildings. Architectural photography is a genre that has my interest, but I need to see how it will play out when back.

Abstract and Still Life Photography

South Africa is a great place to see art and even daily-use objects that have been designed in beautiful ways. Whether they be modern or more traditional. Getting images of abstracts and creating still-life images should be relatively easy, and it will provide a great challenge to photograph these in new ways, playing with light, shadows, and structure.

Choices, choices, choices. While the main focus for this assignment obviously will be on the things I have to accomplish for my day-job, it will provide a lot of exciting opportunities for my photographic endeavors. Have I made a choice about what photography to pursue when overseas? Not yet. I probably will go with whatever opportunity will present itself, and take it from there.

Well then, let's see where this all will lead to. I will keep you all updated through this blog, so don't forget to subscribe to get my adventures directly delivered to your inbox.