There is a quiet power in nature that David Papenfus has spent a lifetime chasing. Through his wildlife photography, he seeks to capture more than just animals—he captures atmosphere, tension, beauty, and wildness itself. Each image is the result of patient observation, deep respect, and a lifelong passion for nature, travel, and the places where the two intersect.
David’s photographic journey has led him through some of the most iconic wilderness areas in the world. From the endless golden plains of the Serengeti to the misty rim of Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater, his lens has followed the rhythm of the wild. In South Africa’s renowned Kruger National Park, where the Big Five still roam freely, David has witnessed nature’s raw intensity up close, often from just meters away.
His work in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, with its red dunes and stark desert light, reflects a more elemental side of Africa—one shaped by survival and silence. Botswana’s wild places, such as the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve, and the predator-rich Savuti, have offered David some of his most cinematic and intimate encounters with wildlife. The stark, salt-blasted expanse of Nxai Pans continues to be one of his favourite locations for capturing surreal scenes and rare moments.
In Namibia’s Etosha National Park, David has found a landscape of contrast—where light, dust, and open space shape the story as much as the wildlife itself. Zimbabwe, too, adds its own pulse, wild and unfiltered, with its vast and less-travelled territories offering a more primal connection to the land.
But David’s eye for wild beauty is not limited to Africa. From the dramatic fjords of Norway to the snowy silence of Greenland, he has followed the threads of wildness across continents. In the alpine meadows and glaciers of Switzerland, the ancient forests of Canada, and the sunburnt outback of Australia, he continues to explore nature’s diversity and the universal language it speaks.
Closer to home, the landscapes around Stellenbosch—particularly the mountains and trails of Jonkershoek—remind David that wilderness doesn’t always mean remote. Sometimes, it is found in the rustle of fynbos in the wind or the play of light across a high valley at dawn.
Each of David’s photographs tells a story—not just of an animal, but of an ecosystem, a moment, and a feeling. His images aim to immerse the viewer: to evoke the dust of a passing elephant, the stillness before a lion’s roar, or the way sunlight fractures through mist after rain. His work is grounded in reverence, patience, and a deep sense of responsibility toward the natural world.
Wildlife photography, for David, is not simply a creative pursuit—it is a way of being present, of bearing witness to what is wild and fleeting. Through his work, he invites others to share in this journey—to feel the awe, the urgency, and the deep wonder that the natural world inspires.
