Alexius van der Westhuizen came a long way from getting his first Kodak Ektar 100 on a school trip to the Kruger National Park forty years ago, to being an internationally acclaimed photographer whose images have been published all over the world.
Growing up in the south of Johannesburg and having a Practical Photography magazine imported from England monthly, Alexius never imagined that he would one day earn his living with photography.
He wanted to climb the corporate ladder and obtained his degree in Labour Law before travelling to the United States of America to work in the Death Valley National Park.
This is where Alexius had the privilege to meet actors Robert de Nero, Martin Sheen and his son, Charlie Sheen.
Back in South Africa Alexius worked as a trade unionist and later as a labour consultant, but always armed with a camera in his car for in case he wanted to capture something unique.
The photo lab developing his images immediately realised his extraordinary talent and enlarged and printed some of his photos to decorate their store.
He tried his hand at acting as an extra playing the priest who married Fafa and Kiki in die popular series, Getroud met Rugby, and played a surgeon in the series Binnelanders.
Alexius made his breakthrough as property and architectural photographer after Sotheby's International Realty appointed him as inhouse photographer and real estate consultant.
The rest is history. Alexius grew in his photographic work from pillar to post. He has a remarkable ability to capture his subject at precisely the right time, the right angle with the right light with exceptional attention to detail.
Today Alexius is known worldwide as South Africa’s lightning photographer. His photos have been published in amongst other The Times in London, The Huffington Post, ParisMatch.com publications in Germany, Croatia and China and the Calendar of the World Meteorological Organization.
Another feather in his cap is that one of his images was placed on exhibition at the United Nations in New York on Earth Day in 2016.
To date Alexius continues topping his achievements in a vast variety of photography fields. Over the years he has remained loyal to his first love: capturing lighting, boxing, properties and architecture like no other.
