"As I walk between the cattle this morning I realized the sound they make as they quietly stare at me half awake, half asleep, is a chanting sound - the same as the ancient monks made while meditating.

"I suddenly became aware of my own energy being lifted, it is as if you step in to a higher spiritual realm, where your cells connect to the rest of your surroundings, and your soul become one with the air around you.

"These cattle are known as Nguni cattle or Zulu cattle, they were the pride and joy of the Zulu people. The white cattle belonged to the Royal family and the black was used in holy ceremonies. for instance, if they needed rain on the land, they let the black cattle graze on holy sites. The blackness of hte hide is a picture of the dark stormy clouds of a rainstorm.

"Each shape and colour tells a story and is named after something in nature, from birds, animals to plants... as if to tell that we are all one and created by One.

"My desire as a photographer and aritst is to share with people through my art forms what Mother Nature teaches and inpires in me."

Amelda van Tonder