Biography

The cornerstone of William’s photography is the desire to depict wild animals in their natural environment; “My presence should have no great influence on their behaviour for in doing so the image will no longer be what I strive for; natural”.   

With an instantly recognisable style William’s internationally acclaimed work is represented by multiple leading art galleries, sold at art fairs throughout Europe, been awarded in the industries most prestigious competitions and he’s just finished his second, five week solo exhibition in London by the age of 30. 

While it was sport photography that first prompted William to pick up a camera in his early teens, his life in the safari industry started at just 18 as an intern at Governors’ Camp Collection. With jobs ranging from cleaning shower heads to running monthly stock checks for the spare parts of 57 Land Rovers, he was also thrown in to managing their Private Camp and tasked with creating all the marketing content the Collection needed - and it was here his love for wildlife photography took hold.

Following two years in Kenya he returned to the U.K. and gained a first class degree in Marine and Natural History Photography, allowing him to return to Kenya and Governors’ in 2019 as a full time resident photographer - no more cleaning shower heads!

Two years in to living in the Maasai Mara William was signed by his first London art gallery and simultaneously launched Armstrong Fortescue, a dedicated photographic safari company, offering guests the chance to photograph wildlife in the way William does, up close and personal. 

With trips quickly selling out and prints flying off the gallery walls, William left Governors’ in 2021 to focus on guided safaris and his increasingly popular print collection, becoming the youngest wildlife photographer to have a solo London gallery show and featuring in a variety of global fundraisers.

With William’s work so heavily focussed on wildlife he has always endeavoured to ensure it gives back to the species he photographs. His works are a regular feature in London charity auctions, with an edition of Rumble in the Jungle raising a record £30,000 for Zoological Society of London in 2022 - the highest auction result they’ve ever had for an artwork. To date William’s work has raised over £130,000 for a wide range of causes. 

“For me photography has always been a form of expression, an attempt to explain to everyone how you see the world around you. Having originally discovered photography through sport, it was in my late teens I switched to working with wildlife and I’ve never looked back. 

Even now, eleven years after I first picked up a camera, the buzz I get when everything’s fallen in to place and I get ‘the’ shot of a wild animal is unbeatable. Hopefully that remains the case for as long as I have a camera in my hand.”

William’s first book, The Last Stand was released in October 2022 along side his debut solo exhibition The Art of Survival. The book contains over 100 of his finest images from the preceding three years and there were just 1,000 editions available, making it a real collector’s item of his earliest work.

While William’s work was regularly awarded in major international competitions it was in 2024 that his biggest success came, with his image Romance is Dead not only highly commended at Wildlife Photographer of the Year, the most respected award in the industry, but also becoming the cover image of their annual coffee table book. The high point of William’s photography career so far.

Now based in Cheltenham, England William’s focus has turned to the next decade of photography and safaris. Having decided with his former business partner to wrap up Armstrong Fortescue and move in their own directions, William’s focus is on the ever changing safari landscape and how he strives to create the best work for his collectors and safari guests:

“The safari scene is ever changing. The days of 7 or 10 day driven safaris are steadily morphing into the more active e-biking, horse back riding or even helicopter safaris. All of which I have been able to enjoy in the last 18 months. As guests look for ever more exciting options and ways to get away from the crowds, every itinerary I plan seems to become more adventurous than the last.

Along side this photography is exploding. Social media and the increasingly rapid advance in camera technology is creating more photographers every year. The quality of the images created on the photo safaris I lead is getting better and better with my guests winning a host of awards in 2024, a real moment of pride for me.”