Gerhard Dreyer's Wild Flowers: A Visual Celebration of South Africa's Floral Abundance

Thad the good fortune of meeting GerhardDreyer several years ago, when I was in the throes of establishing Sunbird Publishing, and I was immediately taken by his kind, friendly and unassuming manner. He and I remained firm friends from that day on, until his sad (and unexpected) passing at the relatively young age of 52.Gerhard spent many years in the pursuit of photographing South Africa's beautiful scenery, and in particular, the spectacular flowers for which the country is world renowned, combining two of his greatest passions, a love of nature, and photography.When I sifted through his extensive image library shortly after he passed away, I was struck by the fantastic selection of photographs of flowers that Gerhard had taken over the years. He had built up a stock of over 3 000 images - more than enough material, I felt, to make a book; andmore so, that a person so talented really deserved to be published.This book comprises a very personal selection of just some of Gerhard's marvellous photographs; a tribute, if you like, to a great talent. I hope that in publishing this work, it will convey hisundoubted appreciation of South Africa's rich floral diversity to a wider audience.I would like to thank Gerhard's family, particularly his mother, Mrs Dreyer, for the enormous amount of help and encouragement she has given me in bringing this book together, and for allowing me to publish it. I would also like to thank Ernst van Jaarsveld, who has kindly provided a wonderfully complementary text to accompany Gerhard's beautiful images.This then, is Gerhard Dreyer's Wild Flowers.