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Hello.
Home
Hello.
My name is Otto
I’m an ecologist and storyteller from Cape Town, South Africa
About
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that endure as long as life lasts.”
— Rachel Carson
About
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that endure as long as life lasts.”
— Rachel Carson
The natural world must be my greatest source of inspiration. After finishing high school and moving to Cape Town to pursue a degree in marine biology, I suddenly found my eyes wide open. I was humbled by what I continued to learn about plants and animals, and the environments they inhabit. The world suddenly started to make sense to me and I gained a beautiful sense of clarity and boundless admiration for the natural world.
After my honours degree I backpacked through East Africa to Zanzibar where I spent three months helping locals with turtle conservation and education. It was a journey of self-discovery that broadened my horizon and motivated me to pursue purpose.
A year later I boarded a ship bound for the sub-Antarctic Marion Island, a volcanic wilderness teeming with hundreds of thousands of penguins, albatrosses, petrels and seals. I fell wholeheartedly in love with its raw and untainted beauty, and developed a great affinity for the concept of wilderness and its importance in our lives.
I am passionionate about sharing my perspectives through film and photography. We’re living in an age where increasingly more children are growing up in societies disconnected from wild spaces. This widening gap between them and the world from which they evolved is a major problem as nature is a fundamental part of our psyche. As someone who's been privileged with the experiences I've had, I feel it is my responsibility to share these with others, in the hope that it'll inspire them to fall in love with the natural world, just as I have.
I have been privileged to assist National Geographic photographer Thomas Peschak on eight assignments for the magazine, including trips to remote parts of Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Indonesia, Trinidad and Tobago, Seychelles, Mozambique and South Africa. These experiences have deepened my understanding of ecology and storytelling.
I co-founded Fishwater Films with Dr Jeremy Shelton as a platform to share purpose-driven stories about freshwater ecosystems in South Africa.
Research
Research
ecologist
In 2017 I completed a PhD at the Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town under the great supervision of Professor Peter Ryan and Dr Yan Ropert-Coudert. My PhD research focused on the the at-sea foraging ecology of macaroni and rockhopper penguins. I used GPSs, geolocators, temperature-depth recorders and stable isotope analyses to investigate foraging strategies and explored how two ecologically similar penguin species are able to co-exist. I have published two chapters and a further two are being prepared for publication. Read my full PhD thesis here.
science communicator
Sharing imagery from Marion Island helped me realise the power of visual storytelling. I have really enjoyed sharing the wonders of Marion Island through my images and films, which have included collaborations with initiatives such as Mouse Free Marion and Sentinels of the South.
My research experience at Marion Island provided me the opportunity to lead SANBI's first biodiversity assessment of South Africa's sub-Antarctic territory through the National Biodiversity Assessment 2018, which helps elucidate future research and conservation priorities.
I am interested in transdiciplinary work, particularly along the edges of science and storytelling. I worked with Professor Kerry Sink to create marineprotectedareas.org.za and MzanSea to help spread awareness leading up to the proclamation of South Africa's new Marine Protected Areas.
Film
Film
director | cinematographer | editor
Perspective is shaped by experience, and because we are all unique, we each have a unique way of seeing the world. Through film we can capture the world the way we, as individuals, see it, and then share it with others.
“My [camera's] way leads towards the creation of a fresh perception of the world. Thus I explain in a new way, the world unknown to you.” — Dziga Vertov
My perspectives have been sculpted by immersion in the natural sciences and time in wild spaces, and it is these perspectives that I strive to share through film. The current ecological crisis is a major driver behind my film-making, as I believe great stories have the power to change the way we see the world.
Together with short films, I am also interested in the role of virtual reality storytelling in creating empathy for ecosystems.
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