African Wildlife Photography by Antje Mouton

Who Is African Wildlife Photographer Antje Mouton?

I am Antje Mouton, founder of Girl in the Wilderness, an African safari specialist, field guide and wildlife photographer with more than two decades of experience travelling through Southern and East Africa.

I did not begin wildlife photography in a studio or with an especially grand artistic vision. I also started with very basic gear, an entry level DSLR and a 18-55mm lens.

I began because I loved being in the wilderness and wanted to remember what I saw. Over time, the camera became another way of observing wildlife more closely.

Photography teaches you to notice things.

The direction an animal is looking. The position of its ears. The twitch of a tail. The way a bird shifts its weight just before taking off. The difference between an animal resting and an animal that is about to move.

It also teaches humility, usually by allowing a leopard to walk straight past you while your camera confidently focuses on a bush.

My photography focuses primarily on African wildlife, landscapes, conservation and the small details that make the wilderness feel alive. I am particularly drawn to behaviour, atmosphere and photographs that show animals as part of a larger landscape rather than simply filling every available pixel with fur.

Capturing moments, one click at a time

Wildlife photography is, at its heart, the art of sitting quietly for a very long time waiting for an animal to do something interesting, only for it to turn its backside towards you the exact moment the light becomes perfect.

And yet, somehow, we keep coming back.

I have spent more than two decades travelling through Africa, working in safari, conservation and tourism, and carrying a camera with me through much of it. My photography has grown out of time in the field: long game drives, dusty roads, freezing winter mornings, brutal summer heat, tiny aircraft, bad coffee, flat batteries and those rare moments when the wilderness decides to be spectacular.

Sometimes everything comes together perfectly. The light is beautiful, the animal behaves, the autofocus remembers what it was invented for and you get the photograph you imagined.

Other times you return with 600 beautifully sharp photographs of grass.

Welcome to African wildlife photography with Girl in the Wilderness.