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About Me

Conservation photographer. Safari guide. Journey designer.

By James Kydd

August 12^th, 2021

It is my wish for us all to experience nature as if for the first time. To relate to the wild with the wonder of a child. To venerate every step on the earth, and to honour all life as sentient.

If my stories, photographs or safaris contribute in any meaningful way towards such a consciousness, I will consider my life better lived.

There has never been a more important time to fall deeply and passionately in love with the natural world. I hope this website - in some small way - aids that journey, and to that end I will use it to share photographic essays, experiences and imagery from my time in nature.

To enquire about my services as a conservation photographer, safari guide and journey designer (more details as you scroll down) or simply share your experience of the wild, please contact me at connect [at] jameskydd [dot] com.

Photography for Conservation

Photographic ambassador for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF), a remarkable organisation helping to protect endangered species across 17 countries in Africa and Asia. My works have been shown as part of two fundraising exhibitions at Christie’s London (2017) and Christie’s Los Angeles (2019).
Storyteller and photographer for the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, dedicated to protecting the waters of the Okavango Basin in Angola, Namibia and Botswana. I have worked with the project over multiple expeditions and mega transects, including our four-month 2,400km expedition down the length of the Okavango river in traditional canoes. Our team won the 2019 National Geographic Explorer of the Year award, and my images have featured both in the magazine and as stand-alone portfolios on the website.
If you'd like to enlist my services for a conservation-related assignment or project, please drop me a line.

Prints for Sale

There is a difference in “taking” a photo and “making” a photograph - in my practice, I strive for the latter, and as such I believe that wildlife has just as much right to these photos if not more so. A giraffe doesn't get to sign a form of consent. So the images I take strive to be made in partnership with whatever creature or land may be in the frame. I will not elicit or push an animal to a reaction or pose, and what you see is often as much about what was left out in favour of what was granted respectfully.

Many of my images are available as limited edition prints (see here for the latest set). Each print is made in collaboration with select artisanal printers on archival fine-art paper. 20%-100% of the proceeds of each image go towards conservation projects with DSWF. You can read more about their work at davidshepherd.org.

Photographic Safaris

I lead small, personally tailored photographic journeys around the world, for people who wish to work respectfully with nature to create unique and beautiful imagery. These trips are for both amateurs and professionals, and our focus will be as much on animal behaviour, anticipation and collaboration with wildlife as much as it will be on technique. And for those who don't want to pick up a camera, I provide a collection of edited photos and videos to document their experience.

Safari Guide & Journey Designer

With nearly two decades of experience as a safari guide, I lead and design intimate, environmentally conscious trips to many wild places across the world, including: Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Chad, India, Costa Rica, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina and Antarctica. These trips are designed to immerse travellers in wilderness, foster a connection to Earth, deepen knowledge of conservation initiatives, and allow the opportunity for philanthropic partnerships. This can range from visits with anti-poaching rangers and local communities on the frontline of conservation to joining prominent researchers tracking endangered species.