Photographers We Love: Obie Oberholzer

WORDS Cheri Morris PHOTOS Obie Oberholzer

Obie: A Photographic Story Book – published by Quivertree – is an “autobiography” as unique as its subject: photographer Obie Oberholzer.

Obie Oberholzer is a storyteller – with his lens and with words. In this book he writes about his life, his travels and the photographs he selected from his considerable archive. We asked him a few questions.

You describe yourself as “a visual thug”. What does that say about your photographic style?

It is a tongue-in-cheek term I coined when trying to explain that so much is written rather than done. My photographic style is about doing rather than talking.

Is there a particular story in the book that is your favourite?

I often get asked about what my favourite picture would be. I am not the type of guy to cling to my pictures and my writing. I would rather look forward than back; I give my full effort to every project and then I turn the page.

You did a lot of the compilation for this book in your Nature’s Valley home. What is your favourite part of your house?

The enclosed veranda. It’s my own museum filled with memorabilia, bones and sculptures that I have collected over 50 years. It looks onto a piazza with a fountain surrounded by trees, which reminds me of Italy.

What is the strangest thing you have done on your adventures?

This is not to be tried by anyone… I once drove to the Northern Cape salt pans, blindfolded myself and drove as fast as I could for as long as possible. After a few minutes of travelling at 160 km per hour not being able to see where I was going I lost connection between body and mind. I also once slept at the bottom of an empty grave that had been prepared for a deceased woman who was to be buried alongside her husband.

View more of Obie’s work at obieoberholzer.net.