Klaus Tiedge
About the Artist
Born: 1965 - Western Cape, South Africa
The 1965 German born Klaus Tiedge has been a prominent figure in the field of commercial photography for more than 20 years. He has worked in many countries, and numerous companies the world over and they have used his images for their brochures, reports and advertising.
Since 2001 Klaus has made his home in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa, where the naturally optimal light conditions and thriving fashion industry have given him the opportunity to work in an incredible variety of locations, with all manner of ethnic groups. In 2008, Klaus decided to follow his passion for the type of photography that fulfils him. This has led him to devote a significant amount of time on safari in game reserves and national parks in Africa to capture the beauty and diversity of the African continent the story of which is told in his fine art prints of wildlife and African tribes.
Artist statement
I was always driven by curiosity, the desire to travel and to literally devour my environment with eyes wide open. My fascination with questions such as: “what is life like for others, how do other people live on our planet, how diverse is nature on this earth, what else is out there, beyond our own small world?”, lead me on numerous photo trips to India, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Mexico, Australia, USA, Brazil and Ecuador. Finally, in 2001, a photo trip brought me to South Africa. I liked it so much that I moved here with my wife Sandra and we decided to make Cape Town the centre of our lives and that of our two children.
My curiosity for Africa hasn’t abated as I love to travel in Southern Africa. One of these adventurous, far away from normal civilization travels took me to the Himba people. The Himba are a nomadic people who live in areas of Namibia which we Westerners would view as nothing other than dry land and dust and this has always fascinated me. They were just as captivated by my equipment as I was absorbed by their culture. Even though we could not understand each other as my translator remained busy with the chief to get permission to take pictures, we managed to communicate by body language. With the portraits I made, I want to preserve their original culture of the satisfied and primordial life these people still live whilst struggling to maintain control of their life and lands.