Painted Love: The Photographic Art of Marguerite Oelofse

With news of the recent fires breaking out in Knysna and Cape Town, I’ve often caught myself wondering, “what would I save”? If I was told by authorities that our home would soon go up in flames, which items would I struggle to imagine my future without? The answer is easy: photographs, photographs and more photographs.

Why? Firstly, because I have the memory of a scatter-brained gold fish and rely heavily on photographic evidence to remind me of past events and, secondly, because, well, time just flies by so damn quickly & photos are a precious, invaluable way to capture those fleeting yet magical moments in life that we wish to have “emotional access” to forever.

I am always the one arranging a professional photographer at special family occasions, anniversaries or birthdays. I have also had the somewhat challenging (read “impossible”) task of begging for and co-ordinating group family shoots in the past: everyone ALWAYS moans at first (we do enjoy a good moan) and, then, years later, cannot thank me enough for having persevered;)!

So, fires and families aside: if you – like me – are a sucker for sentimentality or just otherwise completely photo-obsessed, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to someone whom I believe to be one of Cape Town’s leading portrait photographers, Marguerite Oelofse. Marguerite was one of the official photographers at our wedding last year and, most recently, I asked her to take the final Big Reveal photos of our makeover contestants on the popular television show, Mooimaak (as seen on kykNET in South Africa & on Showmax in the USA).

Here are some examples of Marguerite’s exquisite photos that have a signature “fine art” or painterly quality to them & a cool, avant garde edge: