It Starts with Why
Find out how I got my start
There are only a handful of moments in life that truly alter the way you see the world. Not because something dramatic happens, but because a new perspective takes hold. Years later, you can still trace a line back to those moments and recognise them for what they were: turning points.
Long before I picked up a camera, I was drawn to art. I used to spend countless hours painting landscapes and portraits, fascinated by the way light could transform a scene and evoke emotion. I admired the dramatic contrasts of Caravaggio, yet found myself gravitating towards Impressionism—towards colour, atmosphere, and the challenge of capturing not just what a place looked like, but how it felt.
Travel occupied a similar place in my life. From the high-altitude landscapes of Bolivia to the extraordinary ecosystems of the Amazon, those early journeys sparked a curiosity that never left me. They revealed how vast the world truly is and how much there is to learn simply by stepping beyond the familiar.
I never imagined that either passion would become central to my life. I studied architecture before building a career in London, but throughout those years I felt a persistent pull to go back to my creative side and explore a world that had inspired me from the beginning.
I didn't realise it then, but a question was already beginning to form: What am I waiting for?
Namibia: The First Step
For years I had talked about the trips I wanted to take, the places I wanted to see, and the experiences I wanted to have. Like many people, I assumed there would always be time later. Yet the pause created by Covid forced me to reflect on what mattered most.
So I stopped waiting. I booked a flight to Namibia, rented a car, bought a second-hand camera, and set off alone.
The reactions from friends were mixed. Some were excited. Others looked at me as though I had completely lost my mind. A solo road trip across a country I had never visited before, armed with little more than a camera and a rough itinerary, didn’t strike everyone as a particularly sensible idea.
The truth is, I had moments of doubt myself… They disappeared almost as soon as I arrived.
Namibia has a way of changing your sense of scale. The landscapes are immense, the roads stretch endlessly towards the horizon, and there are moments when you can drive for hours without seeing another person. It is a country that encourages you to pause, observe, and appreciate the beauty that exists in simplicity.
The camera quickly became part of that process. What began as a way to document the journey evolved into something more meaningful. Photography gave me a reason to engage more deeply with the places I was travelling to and transformed the way I experienced them.
Looking back now, Namibia was where my journey into photography truly began. More importantly, it reminded me how inspiring the natural world can be when you give yourself the time to experience it.
“Painting taught me to see light, atmosphere, and composition. Travel taught me curiosity. Wildlife gave me inspiration. Photography ultimately became the thread that connected all the threads together”
— Alex wood
An Unexpected Direction
At first, it was the landscapes that were my focus; The vast deserts, dramatic skies, and endless horizons were what drew me to Namibia in the first place.
Then I visited Etosha.
As my first national park in Africa, I had little idea of what to expect. Not long after entering the park, I drove towards a waterhole, still taking in the novelty of being there at all. Within the first fifteen minutes, a lion tackled a zebra directly in front of my vehicle.
It remains one of the most unforgettable wildlife encounters I have ever experienced.
One moment I was admiring the landscape; the next I was witnessing a scene that had played out across Africa for thousands of years. The intensity, power, and unpredictability of it all was utterly captivating. For the first time, I wasn't simply appreciating nature as a backdrop—I was witnessing the lives unfolding within it.
As the trip continued, I found myself drawn more and more towards wildlife. When I reflected on why, it didn’t seem surprising at all. Some of my earliest travel experiences had taken me into the Amazon, immersed in the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth. Long before photography entered my life, I had always been fascinated by nature itself. Wildlife wasn't a departure from what had come before. If anything, it felt like a return to it.
What began as a love of landscape photography gradually evolved into something broader. I became fascinated by the stories unfolding within those landscapes: the animals that shaped them, depended on them, and moved through them.
Painting taught me to see light, atmosphere, and composition. Travel taught me curiosity. Wildlife gave me inspiration. Photography ultimately became the thread that connected all the threads together.
A year later, standing beneath Kilimanjaro in the presence of some of Africa's last great tuskers, I would discover just how far that journey was about to take me.