My Joy, My Pride!

A visual tribute to Africa’s most iconic cat, My Joy, My Pride captures the quiet power and complex emotion of lions, moments of rest, rage, tenderness, and timeless presence. Photographed across South African reserves, this series reveals both the majesty and the vulnerability of lions living in both managed and wild environments. Each image invites the viewer to pause and look deeper, not just to see the predator, but the individual. This collection is a celebration of beauty, dignity, and survival.

Bright Eyes

Young Heart

Crown on Fire

Roar Means No

In Her Shadow

Captive Hunger

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BRIGHT EYES
September 2006 | Original Lion and Safari Park, Gauteng, South Africa

Limited Edition Print
50 × 70 cm – Edition of 25 only | Signed and shipped with a Certificate of Authenticity

This lion, most likely raised in captivity, met my lens with a gaze both gentle and arresting. His amber eyes shimmered in the vehicle's light as the sun was setting, filled with curiosity and something deeper. A quiet intensity that stayed with me long after I lowered the camera. Though born into a controlled environment, his presence held the quiet dignity of the wild.

Young Heart
September 2006 | Original Lion and Safari Park, Gauteng, South Africa

Limited Edition Print
50 × 70 cm – Edition of 25 only | Signed and shipped with a Certificate of Authenticity

Raised in captivity, he will never know the thrill of the hunt or the true expanse of the wild. On a quiet morning, I found him resting in the soft morning light. There was a stillness in him, a calm strength waiting to unfold.

CROWN ON FIRE
July 2022 | Plumari Private Reserve, Magaliesberg, South Africa

In the quiet stillness of the reserve, where lions live within fenced camps and are fed, I captured a moment of natural splendor. His mane, caught in the golden light, shimmered like flame... an untamed beauty within a contained world. For a heartbeat, the illusion of the wild felt real.

Roar Means No
July 2022 | Plumari Private Reserve, Magaliesberg, South Africa

Captured mid-growl, this lioness wasn’t asking, she was declaring. Though enclosed and fed within the reserve, her spirit spoke loud and clear. In a country grappling with gender-based violence and femicide, her voice echoes that of so many women: fierce, exhausted, and done with not being heard. Roar means no. And no means no.

IN HER SHADOW
December 2021 | Lion and Rhino Nature Reserve, Magaliesberg, South Africa

In the soft shade of a tree, a lioness rests while her cub affectionately lays his head across her back. This moment captures the still centre of their world: warmth, safety, and the unspoken bond between mother and cub. Rendered in monochrome, their presence feels both tender and timeless.

CAPTIVE HUNGER
December 2020 | Lion and Rhino Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa

He stood still, watching. Not roaming free, but waiting. Caged, not by his will, but by the hands that now decide when and how he eats. I photographed this captive lion just before feeding time and couldn’t shake the weight of the moment. His stance, his stare, something about it echoed far beyond the fence. We’re all captive to something. Politics. War. Borders. Fear. Sometimes, it’s just life’s brutal unpredictability. But even here, he held dignity. And sometimes, that’s the only thing we have left to hold.