Born in 1969, Roger Sedres is a South African based, internationally acclaimed photographer whose career has spanned 29 years – taking him on assignments to 29 countries around the world. He has worked at four newspapers based in Cape Town, most notably, Chief Photographer of Die Burger (a daily newspaper), where he photographed former president Nelson Mandela’s presidency, as well as the State visit by the American president Bill Clinton. His images have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the globe.

He regularly gives back to the community when he presents inspirational photographic talks to high school children in vulnerable areas in Cape Town, at no cost.

In 1992, Roger won his first photographic award when he attained the Hunters Gold sports award. In 1993 he won the Metropolitan Life photographic award for his contribution to soccer by covering the Metropolitan Premier Cup, a six-day tournament held annually and showcasing the best under-19 soccer players. He has covered this prestigious event since 1992 and continues to do so. A unique award was bestowed on him in 1994 when Metropolitan Life presented him with Photo Press Award for his contribution to junior soccer in South Africa.

Roger has also photographed some of the most newsworthy and unimaginable atrocities that occurred in Cape Town. At the height of an urban terror campaign just before the turn of the millennium, Roger was driving past the Planet Hollywood restaurant in the V&A Waterfront when an improvised explosive device was detonated inside the restaurant. He was awarded a Fuji Press Award for his image of an injured woman being carried to safety. The following year, in 2000, he won two Fuji Press Awards for his image of then South African cricket captain, Hansie Cronje, bursting into tears after completing his testimony at the King Commission into match fixing. This was one of the last images taken of Cronje in public.

Roger has since turned his focus on international sporting events, most notably covering his third Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he captured iconic images of Belhar’s Luke Davids winning the mens 100m gold medal. He also captured Wayde van Niekerk’s world record in the mens 400m at the Rio2016 Olympic Games, for a host of South African and international clients. He has also covered the 2012 London Olympic Games as well as a multitude of other international sporting events.

Amongst these international sporting events are:

2003 ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa

2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

2012 IAAF World Indoor Athletics championships in Istanbul, Turkey

2012 IRB Junior World Championship in Cape Town, South Africa

2012 IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain

2013 IRB Junior World Championship in France

2014 HSBC IRB Sevens Series in Glasgow and London

2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow

2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China

2016 HSBC World Rugby Sevens in France and London

2016 IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland

2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro

2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Kampala, Uganda

2017 IAAF World U18 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya

2017 FINA World Swimming Championships, Budapest, Hungary

2017 IAAF World Championships, London, England

2017 HSBC Rugby 7’s in Dubai

2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia

2018 IAAF World Under 20 Championships in Tampere, Finland

2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Some of Roger’s clients include:

Atmosphere Communications

Meropa Communications

IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations)

Independent Newspapers

Inyathelo

Stillwater Sports

Sanlam

New Media Publishing

University of Cape Town

Tekano

Old Mutual

African News Agency

Roger was a part-time lecturer in Photojournalism at the University of Stellenbosch (2017 academic year).

For the past 3 years, he has also been a judge in Media24’s Legends journalism competition.

In another commendable feat, two of Roger’s sport images have been included in a sought after book entitled “South Africa’s 100 most famous sports Photos” published by SuperSport and Gallo Images/Getty Images.