Profound beauty from healing

LOCAL IS LEKKER Artist overcomes illness and seeks higher spirit

ADEBILITATING, lifethreatening battle with hepatitis triggered a passion for photographing nature – and led to a 60-year-old petrol station owner’s first exhibition, which opened last week.

When Tony Baxter was struck down with the 14-month illness that whittled him down from a strapping 95kg to a wispy 48kg six years ago, the months of suffering and introspection inspired him to capture the landscapes that made him feel closer to God.

“I thought I was going to leave this earth and my kids behind.

“I would go for long, healing walks on East London’s beaches and that is where I connected with God most, and that is how my connection with spirituality and nature began.

“I bought a camera and wanted to show other people the beauty of how I was experiencing it. I just love it – I found my passion.”

Baxter is self-taught, but his innate perfectionism and creative eye have produced dramatic images of land, sea and sky that delight the senses and document the beautiful outdoors in glorious colour.

“I find nature healing and soothing and it gives me time to reflect on my life,” said the businessman, whose other, more long-standing creative outlet is cooking.

Since his love affair with photography took hold, he has spent most of his free time travelling to photogenic destinations like the Wild Coast, Graaff-Reinet, Iceland, Cornwall, Namibia and Scotland.

“I love atmospheric conditions – rain, mist and cold – which make for moody images, which is why I’m going back to Scotland, the Isle of Skye and the Lake District next month,” said Baxter, who also loves to shoot closer to home in the Eastern Cape.

“A favourite spot is Chintsa beach. It is very diverse with its gullies and rocks.

“It has different moods depending on the tides and the skies, and I never get tired of it.

“An understated spot is Barkly East. It is a lot like Scotland and there is a 1908 church that I have shot in every single season – in snow, rain, sunshine and the red skies of sunset.

“The Wild Coast is also unique with its different biospheres.”

Resulting from these imagecapturing journeys are 83 evocative photographs, beautifully printed by a master printer, on exhibit at Berea’s CVD Art Gallery.

And, although he processes and edits his work, it is not photoshopped. “I enhance my photographs, but I don’t manipulate them.”

The decision to exhibit his art for the first time was prompted by admirers of his work.

“Friends who have seen them have been asking when I will have an exhibition and I thought that since I like to print my work I might as well have an exhibition.

“I am an introverted, shy person and am having little moments of anxiety, but I am very excited to show off my passion.

“My photography is for me and my healing. It is a by-product if anyone else gets some emotive feeling from it.”

● Tony Baxter’s Inspire exhibition is up at CVD Framers and Art Gallery, 12 Jarvis Road, Berea until the end of February. —