Nic Bothma
european pressphoto agency
Cape Town, South Africa
In 1990 as a student studying Anthropology at the University of Cape Town I became a freelance photographer. I was working for a BBC television news crew part time and sold photographs to pay for my tuition. I found myself learning to photograph documenting South Africa's transition out of apartheid alongside established international photojournalists James Nacthwey, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek, Joao Silva, Mike Hutchings and Guy Tillim. These exceptional photographers helped guide my direction.
In 1994 I joined The Cape Times newspaper as a staff photographer and shot sport, news and feature images for 3 years.
Following this i embarked on an around the globe voyage onboard my thirty-foot sailing sloop Shakti.
Through the voyage with long solo passages I documented island cultures aiming to preserve and celebrate some of the unique customs and approaches to life and sustainability encountered along the way. The voyage took six years to sail from South Africa to Fiji.
In 2003 i joined the European Pressphoto Agency as the West Africa chief photographer with my first assignment there being the brutal war in Liberia. I have been with EPA ever since. In July 2020 i became Director and Chief photographer Africa at EPA.
I look to extremes in life as the powerful intersection of intensity and meaning where with photography time can be stopped and life can be studied, analysed and appreciated in detail. From there learning starts where photographs are the catylists to this growth.
My photojournalism work is represented by the international newswire service European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) where i have the position of West Africa chief photographer.
My fine art photography work is represented by Erdmann Contemporary.
After the past twenty seven years I have worked in more than 80 countries.
2017 - First Prize Olympic Action, 2013 - Award of Excellence
