Dr Johan J. Botha

I am an organic chemist by trade but moved up to management of technology and business early in my corporate career. Aircraft and flying fascinated me since high school in the late 60’s. I built and flew many radio-controlled large-scale model aircraft since then and still do so currently. I retired in 2012 and then built two full-scale aircraft and learned to fly and got my PPL after retirement and I am still flying today (2023).

I became a serious photographer with my wife Margie in the early 90’s and photographed ”anything” in the beginning. My focus for the last decade and a half is, however, on wildlife and landscapes in Africa, specifically South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania but I have also photographed extensively in Alaska, Antarctica, South America, Australia, Europe and the United States.

Major photographic achievements

I hold photographic honours from the national photographic societies of South Africa, the UK, the USA, Australia and Europe (FIAP).

For many years I have been actively participating in global photographic competitions to measure my work against the best amateur and professional photographers in the world. I have been a category winner in both the UK Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition as well as in the Natures Best Magazine Competition in the USA. I was also honoured as the South African Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2006. My work has been widely published (in various magazines, calendars, etc) and exhibited in South Africa, the Natural History Museum in London and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington.

During 2023 I again entered some of the major international photographic competitions (e.g. UK Natural History Museum i.e. the WPoTY, NPoTY, BPoTY) and made it into the finals with some images in all of them. Locally I won the bird category in the South African Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition (2022) and my winning image was published in 5 newspapers in SA.

I have published two books on wildlife photography.

In 2023 I wrote three articles at the request of the  FIAP News Editor on Remote Wildlife Photography Trips in Africa. The FIAP Newsletter is read by thousands of international photographers from all over the world.

I have been invited and have done several national and international presentations and talks on photography. I served as a judge for many South African and International photographic competitions and salons and am still doing so.

Service

I have been committed my whole life to the administration and management of photography and served as President, 1^st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Director, Member of the Management Committee and Salon Coordinator of the Photographic Society of South Africa. I fulfilled also many different roles at club photography level.

I am very honoured to have been elected as the Program Director of the PSA (Photographic Society of America’s) Portfolio Distinction Honours and Recognition in 2023. It is a privilege to work with highly honoured and recognised international assessors and committee members. Portfolio entries are international, from all over the world, and they broaden my insight into various genres.

Website
www.johanjbotha.com