Michael Glenister

Michael Glenister’s career has led him through diverse fields. From banking to saw mill management, and from import and distribution to retail store ownership.In late 2004, Michael decided to follow his life-long passion for photography.In 2005 he started his business in freelance photography.

His clients have included well known international companies like BBC, Sony BMG, Universal Music, Total, Forbes Africa, Mercedes Benz, Audi and BMW. Many of the South African music and film celebrities have at some time appeared in front of his lens.International stars such as Kelly Clarkson, Westlife, Alicia Keyes and Kylie Minogue have also been captured by Michael.His work has been published both in South Africa and internationally in numerous magazines and dailies (newsprint). Some of the glossy titles that have featured his work are: You Magazine, The Property Magazine, Pharmaexec, South African Property Review, Sandton Magazine, Your Wealth Magazine, Asset Magazine and Rolling Stone Magazine. In early 2015, Asset Magazine interviewed Michael as part of their Q&A sessions with industry leaders in the property and architectural space. The article, published in March 2015, reflected on his career as an architectural photographer and showcased some of his favourite images.

In late 2015 Michael and his wife Danieta relocated to the UAE where he is on an extended sabbatical and has returned to shooting on his favourite medium – black and white film.He spends his time between making black and white images with his camera, printing in his photographic darkroom at home and sharing his passion and experience for the art with other analogue photographers.

“What I love about shooting on film is the fact that it gives one control over the entire creative process.It makes photography a real and tangible expression of one’s knowledge and interpretation.With analogue (film) photography, one selects and uses the various media according to one’s own vision and desired artistic outcome.Digital photography relies heavily on technology and the manufacturer’s vision as to how the hardware and software should interpret colours, tones and form. Film provides a raw canvas as it were, with which you, as the photographer need to decide how to interpret the subject matter.It is a far more rewarding journey to be able to convert my vision to a silver gelatine, cyanotype or other ‘real’ medium through a tangible progression from film stock to final print than to start off with a binary coded image, edit using binary code and print on paper using yet more binary code.”