My name is Peter White, and I regard myself as a high achiever. I do not drive a fancy sports car, nor do I think I really need to have one. I do not have millions in my bank account, but I am happy and content in my daily living. What makes me content is that I have a wonderful family and fiancé, and I am able to live my passion every day.

I did want to be a great sportsman, or possibly even a highly successful business man, and definitely I had talent in golf, tennis, cricket - in fact, in all ball sports. During my childhood everything I touched turned easy very quickly and when I think about myself deeply, my problem during these early days was that I was spoilt for choice. I could do nothing wrong sport wise, and school was just a simple side-line activity. Entering the world after school and the national service also seemed easy. I had a great job. I was self-employed, and was doing well from personal development and financial growth perspectives. Then it happened.. My sister, Muffy, and I set off to Cape town one evening.  We were driving from Durban, and all was fine until one of us (not sure if it was me or Muffy) fell asleep behind the wheel. We hit a cement drain on the side of the road, and the lights immediately went off.

At the accident scene, the doctors thought I was dead, so they put me in a body bag â€" I travelled 130 km to the hospital in a body bag.  At the hospital the wheeled me to the morgue, and at the morgue door one of the doctors saw me move!

When the lights came on again some three years later, I did not know what had happened to me. I had been in a coma for some of the time, but mostly was confined to my childhood bedroom at my parents' home. Definitely I have more thanks to share with my mom and dad than I could possibly say in one lifetime. Fortunately, parents just do these things and somehow they found the strength to nurture me back to health and to my senses. Life was now not so simple, as I had to learn to walk again, and doing sports at the top level was something of a distant memory.

But I did have one passion I could concentrate on. It was something that my dad had taught me while I was at school. My dad was an avid photographer, and he had a full set of photographic equipment to become a fully independent photographer. The days of early photography were rather primitive when we consider the digital equipment we have today, and the likes of smart cell phones, etc. In the days beforepa fell off the bus, we had to work out our own aperture and lighting, and then in a dark room remove a "spool" from the camera - and apply chemical mixtures to enhance and set the prints.

I loved photography the way we did it in the old days, and now even more so with the modern equipment and supports we have today.  I have learned one thing in my time since my accident that I hold dear, and this is that Life is worth living. Life is a blessing, and each day is precious.  Each new moment we have gives us a fresh opportunity to improve and become a better person, and to become more capable in the areas we focus our minds.

I decided some years ago that I was going to become the best photographer I know, and boldly set out with my camera over my shoulder, and my passion firmly entrenched in my heart and mind.

In the past 20 years or so I have taken so many pictures that I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and say out loud, to whomever is in the room with me, that they need to move to the left to be centred in the picture, or that they should look happy and smile. I think I have said the word "cheese" more times than the average cheese farmer. But, my reflections on my years since my accident are of courage and determination.

Nobody succeeds in life without believing in themselves, and certainly not without tenacity and a feeling of purpose.  It seems to me to be a different life-time when I consider my early sporting achievements, and how they did not really mean anything to me because they came so easily.

Photography I had to work on, and it feels like what I have achieved in my profession is such a blessing. I have photographed statesmen like Nelson Mandela at his inauguration, and each of the presidents since our new constitution and democratic government. I have photographed captains of industry and international icons while working as an official photographer at the Durban ICC. I have photographed more weddings and social functions than I could possibly count. I have worked with models in studios, and done many many family functions.

Why do I love photography as much as I do? Well I am not sure I understand enough about Life to fully answer that question, but I can tell you that my passion is closely linked to the joy brought to people when they see a magnificent photo of themselves. I can say also, that the pride I have in my work comes from needing to be strong for myself, and each day getting up and deciding that I am going to be great today. I am going to take great photos for people I care about, and want to please them. This is my story.

I hope that you too find courage to express your God-given gifts and talents, and are able to share and serve where we are asked.

Onward. Peter White 082 058 5106