ILCP Emerging League application Linda Smit
Welcome to my ILCP portfolio submission. Thank you for taking the time to review my application.
Personal statement
I was fortunate to grow up in the countryside, where I developed a strong connection with nature. Spending time outdoors and observing animals brought me joy, peace and a sense of wonder. I felt like I was part of that magical world and was fascinated by it.
As an adult, with everyday life and a full-time job, I gradually lost that connection. After many years, I experienced health issues that made me realise how unhealthy that disconnection had become. That was the beginning of my path back to nature and towards a career change that felt more aligned with who I am.
I believe humanity has become increasingly disconnected from the natural world we are part of. Through my work, I am searching for ways to restore that connection, to build a bridge between people and nature and to better understand both the natural world and the communities that live alongside it, so we can coexist.
I wish to join ILCP because I am looking to grow as a conservation photographer and filmmaker within a community of like-minded people working in this field. Much of my work is developed independently and I feel there is a limit to how far I can grow without feedback, exchange and mentorship from others who are deeply embedded in conservation storytelling.
I believe that working within a community like ILCP allows us to achieve more together than we can individually. I am looking for a space where ideas, experiences and perspectives are shared and where storytelling can grow stronger through collaboration and exchange.
What I hope to gain from ILCP is the opportunity to strengthen my storytelling, to better structure and communicate conservation and coexistence narratives and to become more confident in my work. I am also looking for guidance in how to develop a more sustainable practice, including how to pitch stories, build collaborations and navigate the professional side of conservation work.
I bring experience working alongside conservation NGOs and field-based projects and a hybrid approach combining photography and film to document conservation work and human–wildlife coexistence stories from within these environments.
Conservation storytelling work
I began my conservation storytelling journey in 2022, when I joined the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) in South Africa as a volunteer documenting cheetah translocations. This was my first experience working inside a conservation operation, following the process from capture to release and seeing how many different steps and organisations are involved in moving wildlife between protected areas.
The cheetah project was a collaboration with the EWT and multiple private game reserves in South Africa, a receiving reserve in Mozambique, veterinary teams and CITES officials who carried out inspections to verify the animals and documentation as part of the legal export process. The resulting film and photos have been shared by conservation partners on International Cheetah Day to highlight the importance of cheetah metapopulation management.
In 2024, I returned to work with the EWT as a voluntary field officer during a lion survey in northern Kruger National Park. My role included locating lions in the field and capturing identification photographs for monitoring and data analyses. During this project, I also documented the collaring of two lionesses that were at risk due to their proximity to the park boundary. Working in this environment gave me a closer understanding of how conservation decisions are made on the ground and how monitoring contributes to long-term protection of lion populations.
The lion collaring was carried out in collaboration with the EWT, SANParks, the veterinarian and funding partners supporting the monitoring programme. The resulting short film will receive a commended Siena Award and is scheduled for release later this year in collaboration with project partners around the award ceremony in October.
I am currently working on a new story about a project in South Africa focused on human–wildlife coexistence, exploring how people and wildlife share the same landscapes and the challenges and solutions that shape that relationship.
For this application, I have chosen to submit the cheetah translocation project as my portfolio. It follows the relocation from capture to release and offers a behind-the-scenes look at the collaboration and effort involved in moving cheetahs between reserves to maintain genetic diversity and strengthen cheetah populations.
Demo reel
This one-minute demo reel brings together a selection of my wildlife and conservation filmmaking. It includes footage from the Endangered Wildlife Trust's lion survey and lion collaring project, together with wildlife sequences filmed in Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Project portfolio
Relocating cheetahs to restore & strengthen populations
Elevator pitch
This project documents the relocation of four cheetahs from South Africa to Mozambique in collaboration with the Endangered Wildlife Trust and conservation partners. By following the translocation from start to finish, the story reveals the amount of work that goes into moving cheetahs between reserves and how these efforts help maintain genetic diversity and strengthen cheetah populations in southern Africa.
Related outcome
The film was shared by conservation partners on International Cheetah Day, to raise awareness for the species and help communicate the importance of cheetah metapopulation management and collaborative conservation efforts across southern Africa.
Single images
