Africa's Spirit Frozen

Keen to capture the spirit of Africa in your home or office? Bushprint Africa, located at Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA) offers African wildlife images for high-quality digital printing on an artist’s canvas. Safari News spoke to owner Greg Kastell to find out about his journey.

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Kastell started his business printing in Cape Town 15 years ago, at the time working for hotels and decorators. As a wildlife enthusiast and photographer, he decided to focus on wildlife art as the images were already available. Kastell moved to Nelspruit and sold his images outside the Tiger’s Eye shop in Skukuza, before moving to KMIA.

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“We have a selection of 200-300 unframed pictures in different sizes,” he says. There are also limits on the number of prints per image, making them even more special. Bushprint Africa commissions photos from approximately 15 photographers, to ensure variety. “We print for people who come with their own photos too,” he says. The prints are treated with a protective covering, making them completely waterproof, and they’re available up to 1.5mx3m.

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Kastell says their wildlife images are extremely popular, but there are no real firm favourites. “It is equally divided. We sell a large number of prints of lions, zebras, elephants and African wild dogs.” He counts Princess Charlene of Monaco among his most famous clients as she supports wild dog conservation.

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Sales fluctuate, with August to October the busiest period, as this falls within international holiday schedules. Kastell says their visitors come from several countries, including Australia and Britain. “It is incredible how many people are visiting South Africa.”

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Kastell says they aim to provide photographic art instead of just pictures. “We do not stock ‘straight photos’, but unusual and unique things that happen in the bush, with interesting subjects.”

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Images are carefully packaged and can be sent anywhere in the world. A smaller selection of images is available online.