An exhibit featuring nature images by Braam Oberholster, School of Business professor of Southern Adventist University, will open at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 25 at the John C. Williams Art Gallery and will run through April 4.
The exhibit, “Moments of Providence,” features professional photographs of the African wildlife. “I record art. Often the recording is done at a 2500th of a second or faster resulting in expressions, poses, or behavioral features that happen so fast that normal human observation of the animal or bird will miss the moment,” Mr. Oberholster said.
The John C. Williams gallery is located on the second floor of Brock Hall at Southern. For more information, call (423) 236-2089.
For Mr. Oberholster, photography is a serious hobby that flows from his long-time interest in nature. He won first and second place prizes in the nature photography contest at the University of the Free State annual student photography competition in 1979. His wildlife and landscape work, particularly of Mount Mulanje, was published in coffee table books on Malawi scenery, tourist brochures and postcards, and nature publications such as Toktokkie, a South African children’s nature magazine. Later, while living in Indonesia, his work on island landscapes was published in a variety of local media.
A recent refocus on wildlife photography has reinvigorated his passion for capturing images of nature’s wonders and beauty, and the importance of preserving it for others to appreciate the creativity and power of the Creator God. “The art I record testifies of the Master Artist,” Mr. Oberholster said. “It is my endeavor to show through the medium of photography the beauty that remains in God’s created natural realm, even after a millennia of scarring from sin.”