AFRICA ON LENS- MICHAEL POLIZA

Michael Poliza is a wildly successful German IT entrepreneur who sold his companies in 1997 and set off to capture the world on film.

MICHAEL POLIZA-THE MAN BEHIND THE CAMERA

As a teenager, he was as well known as any actor could possibly be in the Germany of that time, and appeared in well over 100 television shows and films. Poliza went on to make his fortune in the IT world, but in 1997, sold his companies with a view to buying a boat and setting sail for some exotic and relaxing locale. However this is not a man to do things by half measure, and in record time the Starship Millennium Voyage was underway. This three-year multimedia expedition around the world on a 75 ft expedition yacht was sponsored by SONY, Microsoft, Deutsche Telekom, Olympus and the WWF, and was broadcast daily on the Internet and followed by millions of people around the world.

Poliza’s first coffee table book was published in Germany and focused on the journeys and discoveries of the Starship Millennium Voyage. Quickly becoming a bestseller, it sold more than 50 000 copies. True to his IT roots and passions, Poliza was one of the pioneering photographers to embrace digital photography, and his Starship book was the very first coffee table book to carry more than 50% digital content.

That expedition over, Poliza returned to the continent that had stolen his heart: Africa. His book by that name was released to massive acclaim around the world in July 2006. Published by art photography specialists, teNeues (www.teneues.com), this is without a doubt the most talked-about photography title of recent years, showcasing Poliza’s keen eye for the beautiful simplicity of Nature’s graphics. The 10 000-copy first print run sold out in three months – quite an achievement for a title that costs in excess of ₤70. A more concise version was published in March 2007. The Essential AFRICA showcases the best of the bestselling AFRICA in a more portable format.

"No child is born a racist" Photo

Stunning Himba women

I was about 10-12ft away in a vehicle, flat on the ground. She is looking through the ribcage of a buffalo that her pride killed a few hours before. Shot near Duba Plains,Okavango Delta, Botswana one of the worlds best place to see lion/buffalo interactions...

Nature photography provides you with many moments that can easily be described with cute, sweet, lovely, wonderful etc. But it is also very very much, the survival of the fittest. Eat and be eaten. Life and death. Happens every day, every hour, every minute. It is part of life....

This young Impala Antelope lamb was actually killed by a young female leopard. She was just on the way to a tree to eat it when about 8 Hyena came out of the bush and chased her off. She lost her kill and just barely made it to the tree. If they would have gotten her, they most definitely would have killed her. Eliminate competition. All the cats do that as well. The leopard was lucky, the Impala was not.

Michael Poliza

Michael Poliza teamed up with his friend Stefan Breuer on an 8-week helicopter expedition across Africa. Their long-held dream of flying from Hamburg to Cape Town is taking them across both Europe and Africa at low-level so that they can capture the beauty of both continents and share these birds-eye-view images with the world. This expedition was covered extensively by media in Europe and Africa. The book on the expedition, Eyes on Africa, was published in 2007.

BOOKS

Eyes Over Africa

In 2006, to fulfill a long-held dream, widely acclaimed photographer Michael Poliza and friend Stefan Breuer undertook a helicopter journey across Africa. Skimming close to the ground, they flew over 19 countries. Poliza's alluring and often surprising photographs share this exceptional journey with the world. With a birds-eye view, we witness the astounding beauty, scale and diversity of this imposing continent. The accompanying texts give a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the photographs, and brief background to some of the most fascinating subject matters.

THE ESSENTIAL AFRICA

AFRICA

TEXT SOURCES AND MORE INFORMATION

Michael Poliza Official Website


Michael Poliza Photo Stream