Monekwe’s safari excursions photographs light up BIHL

Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Sunday December 17, 2023 06:00

 

The display by wildlife photographer, Brains Monekwe, is in its second month of a three month duration. It started in November as part of their (BIHL) roving exhibitions that continue to empower local artists.

The exhibition is curated by Thapong Visual Arts Centre manager, Reginald Bakwena and BIHL Public Relations, Communications and Marketing Manager, Tebogo Keepetsoe.

Through this exhibition, Monekwe, who is a member of Thapong Visual Arts Centre, is showcasing 13 fine art prints of his wildlife photographs from 2021-2023. According to the artist, this exhibition, which is his first solo presentation, showcases his journey to becoming a professional wildlife photographer and follows the same minimalist fine art approach.

The photographs were captured in various national parks in Botswana, such as Chobe National Park and Mashatu Game Reserve. “I strive to showcase Botswana’s flora and fauna richness and bring it into concrete jungles and walls of people who may otherwise don’t have the privilege or time to be in nature,” Monekwe told Arts&Culture in an interview. “Bakwena saw my photos being framed there and loved them. He requested a meeting where he told me about the BIHL Roving Exhibition at the BIHL HQ.

They requested to see my portfolio and from that they picked and requested 13 prints for a three months exhibition,” Monekwe explained how the exhibition came about. He said the exhibition exposes his works to more clients as BIHL is one of the biggest corporate companies in the country with a lot of clients frequenting their offices. “It gives me great comfort that my works of art now have more eyeballs on them. The way this exhibition works is on a rental basis. BIHL pays rental every month they display my canvases on their walls.

On top of that, those photos are also at the same time on sale and they are displayed together with all info and prices. I hope to make more sales as people pass through BIHL and see those displayed artworks,” he said. While other big organisations are still using foreign wildlife photographs, Monekwe said this vote of confidence from BIHL should be testament that there are Batswana wildlife photographers who have learnt and improved themselves to compete on the world stage.

Explaining his journey to being a wildlife photographer, the Mathathane-born artist said his background contributed to his choice of career. Being from Mathathane village, a small village which is the gateway to the Tuli Block tourism region, he was surrounded by people who worked in the wildlife tourism region, something that aroused his love for nature. Having been raised by a father who was also into photography, the 37-year-old vividly remembers how their house always had cameras, film rolls, photography books and uncollected photos from customers.

However, he said he didn’t pick up the camera until 2009 when her elder sister, who had studied photography as part of her Graphic Design course, gifted him her old camera, a Canon 1000D. But he would wait another eight years before he could uitilise that gift when he went on a safari tour in Kasane in 2017.

On a boat cruise, he met a tourist who happened to be a professional wildlife photographer from the United States of America. He said the photographer was keen enough to give him a few photography tips and advised him to learn on YouTube, Indeed, he used YouTube tutorials to learn more about photography. Furthermore, he explained that having done fine art at school in which he excelled, he could identify the similarities. “It was the foundation I needed on this journey. And throughout my photography, I carried the Fine Art approaches I learnt in Art.

I like minimalism, showing nature in clean pics, simpler backgrounds, lone subjects etc,” he added. He said he won his first photography award in 2021 after getting People’s Award in the Pangolin Photo Contest under Birds of The World category. The annual competition is open to wildlife photographers from around the world.

He said being a young Motswana wildlife photographer and winning the award was a good launch pad into his dream. He said since then, he has continued to grow his craft by learning new skills through YouTube, courses, books, and photography workshops

. He said he attended two workshops at Pangolin Photo Safaris in Kasane and then Photo Mashatu at Mashatu Game Reserve, which was held in October 2023. “I continue to travel all over Botswana on safari on my photographic excursions.

I have been to the Okavango Delta, Savuti, Chobe, Makgadikgadi and Mashatu,” he added. Despite his steady progress in the wildlife photography space, Monekwe says he still has a full time job, working as a Forensic Scientist. He is also an entrepreneur running a Safari-themed clothing store called Safari Bond. However, he aspires to do professional Wildlife Photography full time but due to bills he still needs to make income elsewhere.