Leonie Scholtz

From an early age I have adored the arts, with a particular early appreciation for cinematography. Later, as a medical intern, I became fascinated with photography. I signed up for workshop after workshop at the National School of Photography under the guidance of Martin Osner, and got to grips with the nuts and bolts of conventional photography by processing and developing my own prints in a darkroom at home.

I delight in the juxtaposition of imaging the human body as medical subject matter through radiology, with imaging it as an art form through pictures.

I also do portraits and landscapes, and I enjoy wildlife photography. My work consistently aims to capture people and animals in peculiar, distinctive circumstances and under extraordinary lighting. However, after many wildlife, landscape and Arctic photography trips, I began to feel restless. The technical side of photography and post processing had started to feel repetitive, and I wanted to grow and to diversify what I was making. That is how I found myself in Martin Osner's fine art classes, and eventually finished all of the workshops for the Master Class.

My preferred method was the nitro transfer technique, which led to a joint collection with another artist, blending transfers and acrylics. My photography consistently embraces minimalism and simplicity, and often carries flow and movement.

My preferred genre is still portraits, and capturing human emotion remains the real challenge for me. At the moment I am combining my portrait photography with fine art techniques, painting onto the portraits and transferring them to be reworked, so they carry a deeper meaning.