Author(s): CAMERON EWART-SMITH

THE ARTS

The Best of Getaway Gallery is a celebration of the photographers who constantly brave hot and cold, rain and shine, early mornings and late nights to capture the unbelievable pictures that are submitted to Getaway magazine every month. It is their dedication to their art, and their determination to capture these fleeting moments of beauty, that has produced the fantastic images that appear in this showcase of the best wildlife and travel photography that South Africa has to offer.

If you ask any of the staff photographers who have worked at Getaway over the past 22 years they will all agree that judging Getaway Gallery is the highlight of the month. The seemingly simple task of choosing the most beautiful, or most intriguing, or most amazing of the submitted photographs is given some perspective when considering that more than 500 images are received every month, and that this collection is a showcase of the past seven years of Gallery winners.

What started in 1989 as a simple idea -- a space for readers to share their best images -- has developed over the years to become the foremost African travel and wildlife photography competition in South Africa -- if not the world. The images collected together in the pages of The Best of Getaway Gallery represent the work of almost 100 photographers, and are a true reflection of the incredible talent we have in South Africa.