One of my dearest friends and colleagues in Namibia is Rieth van Schalkwyk. She is a woman of substance, intelligent, insightful, witty, lovely, and one of the kindest people you'd ever meet. Rieth 'feels' life while most of us live life. She runs Venture Publications and produces some of the most informative, popular, and visually appealing magazines ever! http://www.namibiatradedirectory.com/home/classified-directory/communications-media-advertising/publishing/venture-publications/
My dear friend just lost her husband, the artist, cinematographer and the superbly talented photographer, Paul van Schalkwyk. My thoughts are for Paul and the vacuum left by the loss of such a great and good man. My heart is with Rieth and her two children.
It's far too painful to keep repeating the information about Paul's untimely death in an airplane crash over Etosha National Park this weekend. Here is a link to a newspaper article that gives some details.
http://www.namibian.com.na/indexx.php?id=10353&page_type=story_detail&category_id=1
In some of my blogs over the last two years, I have featured a few of his fantastic photos. I went to the opening of his photographic art exhibit at the French Cultural Center here in Windhoek some months ago. One stares at Paul's work and simply falls in.
Those who would come to Namibia as tourists, usually want to see images of it before they decide to visit. Paul's images tell the Namibian story like no other. His camera shots as the producer and cameraman on many tourism marketing films is unforgettable! These all live on and when I do tourism training workshops, I usually show parts of one Tourism Board video or another, all produced by Paul.
Enjoy a few samples of the huge photographic talent of the late Paul van Schalkwyk, my friend.
