About
Meet the photographer behind the lens
I went to Africa for the adventure, but came back with a completely different view on the life I want to live
My name is Julia Eilert, a 25-year-old wildlife photographer from the Netherlands and founder of my own Fine Art print business, Julia Eilert Photography.
My love for Africa began during my degree in International Tourism Management, when I spent three months interning in Cape Town at a travel company specializing in luxury African safaris. Every day, I saw photographs of the most beautiful safari lodges and read stories from travelers about their unforgettable experiences in the bush.
I wanted that too.
After my internship, I had two weeks before my studies started again. Instead of going home, I booked a 12-day group tour through Namibia and Botswana. I knew immediately that 12 days would never be enough.
During the final year of my studies, I started a travel blog with one goal in mind: to one day visit South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. Little did I know that I would achieve that goal just a year later.
I left for four weeks to help a newly opened lodge with its social media and photography. Four weeks turned into seven.
That winter, I immersed myself in everything that has something to do with wildlife photography and invested in a better camera. In spring 2026, I returned to Zambia, this time to Kafue National Park. That’s when I knew for sure: I wanted to work in the safari industry and combine it with my passion for wildlife photography.
I got that opportunity sooner than expected. For the final three months of 2026, I’m in Zimbabwe for a new project.
"I want my images to do more than simply show something. I want them to make you feel something."
JULIA EILERT
Africa is difficult to put into words. You have to feel it
That feeling is at the heart of wildlife photography for me. It’s the intense gaze of a leopard that seems to make the world stand still, the calm presence of a giraffe slowly wandering past, lions whose calls seem to make the ground tremble in the middle of the night, or the moment you hear branches crack and know there’s an elephant somewhere nearby. It’s those moments, when everything around you seems to disappear, that keep drawing me back to Africa.
Through my photography, I want to bring a little of that experience home. Not simply to capture a beautiful animal, but to create an image that still evokes something years later. Maybe it takes you back to a safari you once experienced, or to that feeling of freedom you felt there. I want my images to do more than simply show something; above all, I want them to make you feel something.
That is the idea behind FEEL Africa.
What if it does work out?
I want to keep building my life around Africa, wildlife and photography. That means spending as much time as possible in the bush, discovering new places, learning more about animal behaviour and continuing to develop my photography.
At the same time, I want to give you something that goes beyond a beautiful image on your wall: a moment of calm after a busy day, a reminder of a special trip, or the feeling of being back in Africa for a moment. An image that isn’t simply beautiful to look at, but continues to evoke something meaningful every time you see it.
Building a business around something that gives me so much energy is exciting, and, of course, a little scary. There are moments when I think: what if it doesn’t work out? But I’d rather ask myself: what if it does? What if I can create the life I dream of, one where I keep travelling, photographing, learning and doing what makes me happy?
Feel the fear and do it anyway.
