Viya Mathapursad
Cape Town · Field & Portrait Photography

Viya Mathapursad
looks closer.

A portfolio of harbour seals, garden birds, and the animals that share our homes. These were shot at eye level, in real light, wherever the story actually happens.

@viyatheconservationist Cape Town, South Africa Conservation & commercial work
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Patience is
the whole craft.

I started photographing animals because sitting still long enough to earn their trust taught me more about a place than anything else could. Three years working across resource development, education, and animal care at a seabird rescue organisation shaped how I shoot. Low, unhurried, and led by the animal rather than the frame.

What follows is a working selection which includes harbour wildlife, garden birds, backlit studies, and the household companions who never stop performing for a camera. Every image here was made on location, in available light, no staging.

Cape Fur Seals

Harbour docks sunrise and last light, where the colonies haul out to warm up between fishing runs.

01 / 04
Cape fur seal portrait, sunlit fur
Morning Watch
Cape Fur Seal — Dockside
Young seal close portrait
First Light
Juvenile — Colony Edge
Two seals resting on dock edge above blue water
Low Tide
Pair — Harbour Wall
Seal grooming beside another resting seal
At Rest
Grooming — Float Line

Harbour & Garden Birds

Smaller sightings. Proof the good frame is often the quiet one.

02 / 04
Two gulls standing on a wooden dock beam beside an anchor chain
Chain Watch
Hartlaub's Gulls — Harbour
Cape white-eye feeding on orange crocosmia flowers
Feeding Line
Cape White-eye — Garden

Rim Light Studies

The series I keep returning to. One lamp, one silhouette, fur catching fire at the edges.

03 / 04
Cat silhouetted against warm backlight, fur glowing at the edges
Study No. 1
Available Light — Indoors
Cat silhouetted against a bright doorway, rim lit
Study No. 2
Available Light — Indoors

Companions

Dogs and cats at home and on the street. The brief every pet owner actually wants which is personality, not a pose.

04 / 04
Malinois dog close up with tongue out, street setting
Full Send
Belgian Malinois — Street
Golden retriever mid-shake on grass, tongue out
Shake It Off
Golden Retriever — Garden
Tabby and white cat looking down at camera, close portrait
Unimpressed
Domestic Shorthair — Home
Yorkshire terrier close up against a bright window
Window Light
Yorkshire Terrier — Study
Small terrier curled up on a couch beside a red cushion
Off Duty
Terrier Mix — Home

Let's make your
next campaign look like this.

Available for conservation storytelling, brand and location shoots, and pet or portrait sessions across Cape Town.

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