Michael Poliza is mad about pixels. He is a photographer who comes from the ‘other side”. Described as a ‘wildly successful” IT entrepreneur, he sold his businesses in 1997 and nowadays indulges himself in wildlife photography.
His background is a definite advantage, he says, and he fully embraced digital photography from the outset. Admitting to being ‘a bit of a gadget guy”, he says that if he had to go back to film he would have to give up photography. The immediacy of the digital medium and being able to review a day’s work that evening no matter the location is a large part of the attraction and the fun. Poliza’s switch to digital came about as soon as the technology was made available in 1998, his first camera being the Kodak/Canon DCS 530, a brick of a device with a three-megapixel file size. Ten years later he is using a camera that is light years from the DCS, a Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with a file size of 16,7 megapixels.
Poliza literally staggers into the interview under the weight of his latest book, Eyes Over Africa (teNeues). It is a huge publication with 100% digital content. It comes in three versions: the XXL, what Poliza calls the small book, which is about the size of an average coffee table book, and the abridged pocket book (though the pocket would have to be of the large cargo-pants type). The scale of the XXL book certainly gets across the idea of Africa as a vast continent; when it is opened the images go across the gutter to an approximate A2 size. It is bird’s-eye view stuff, showing the diversity of the continent, humankind’s indelible mark, incredible vistas and beauty and sometimes the finishing touch — the wildlife.
All is in vivid colour with a sometimes graphic composition. Poliza’s approach to this type of photography and wildlife is a far cry from what was drummed into my head as a young photographer — that wildlife can be photographed only using a fine colour slide film of no more than 100 ISO and that time (a lot of it) needs to be spent on your subject. Some wildlife photographers spend a lifetime on one species. Eyes Over Africa is the result of eight weeks of photography, the same amount of time some photographers spend watching meerkats do little more than stare at the horizon. Poliza uses the technology the camera offers by mostly shooting on the ‘programme” setting, thereby allowing the camera to calculate the exposure. To top it all he shoots a lot at either 400 or 800 ISO; as mentioned he wants to enjoy the moment, as well as capture it, and not be encumbered by all the technicalities.
When businessman Stefan Breuer invited Poliza along on a three-week helicopter trip over Africa, he accepted with glee and promptly talked Breuer into an eight-week trip culminating in Cape Town. Poliza describes it simply as ‘a helluva trip and a privilege”.
I ask if there weren’t any difficulties flying over some areas and countries, particularly because of their chosen height above ground, which was as low as possible. Poliza answers with a borderline mischievous smile that I think could safely be attributed to entrepeneurs saying ‘sometimes it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission”. The unique view obtained from the air was an obvious objective; another was to make the book ‘less cute” when it comes to the wildlife, so there are no romping cubs and the like.
Conservation photography is gaining more and more recognition worldwide and Poliza sees his books as part of this movement, calling them ‘a small contribution to make people have an emotional attachment to Africa, which is still beautiful and worth protecting”. He also feels that if people have an emotional attachment to a cause they will be more likely to fight for it. Judging by the success of his previous wildlife books this one should sell well and go into reprint. The first 300 are a limited edition numbered and signed and include a copy of the print from the cover of the ‘small” book.
Poliza was originally drawn to Africa by a barter deal with Wilderness Safaris, which gave him time, hospitality and access in exchange for photographs of their lodges. Poliza also counts himself as being fortunate and, as a man who does not believe in half measures, used his luck well. He is living his fourth life as a photographer after previous incarnations as a child TV star in Germany, a student and IT entrepreneur.
Even though he didn’t have to concern himself too much with money after the sale of his businesses, Poliza realised that he had to start making his hobby lucrative by finding a publisher for his first effort. After its success the second book was easier to get off the ground and now the continents of the world are beckoning. I think Poliza has one ideal right now: to get his adventures bound and on to your coffee table, which had better be sturdy.