Conrad Hechter was born in South Africa, spent his formative years in England and went to Stellenbosch University - the bastion of Afrikaner academia - to study English and Geography. After teaching English literature in Cape Town and being frustrated and disillusioned by the political, social, and educational systems, he left in 1984 to broaden his horizons and gain a perspective on the South African situation.
He traveled to the Middle East, Europe, America, and the Far East, and by a twist of fate, ended up in Sydney, Australia. While in Sydney he studied film-making and photography, ran a school where English was taught to foreign students and revelled in the exceptional light quality of Terra Australis. Soon, however, his need to travel got the better of him and after visiting Canada and Argentina, he settled in San Francisco. It is here that his love for photography has tempered and matured.