Africa

AFRICA
Amboseli, Kenya - 2018

I doubt I will ever take a more powerful portrait of either an elephant or East Africa than this one. That’s the thing about this work: it’s a collision of two enormous features—one volcanic, one iconic—and they complement each other and raise the bar higher still. It’s a timeless piece, closer to perfection than anything I can remember in my career. The contextual narrative behind Tim, the elephant, is East Africa at its symbolic best.

The irony is that three hours prior to taking this image, I was sitting back at the base somewhat grumpy because for once the location was not delivering. But at 2:20p.m., my team received News that our scouts had located Tim in the open, 90 minutes away, and there was a chance to do what I had always wanted to do. We grabbed our gear and made haste.

When we arrived, the sun was still too high so we had to bide our time. I wanted a fresh charge, not a tired one, and that meant waiting and playing smart. We had to keep Tim at a distance, but equally keep him in our sights. It was a tactical hour ahead, and there were many people to thank for keeping their discipline and encouraging me to keep mine.

The greatest credit for this piece of art should go not to me, but to Juma Wanyama, my local guide in Amboseli. He found and incentivized the scouts who tracked Tim, but more importantly, he kNew both this elephant and me equally well and allowed me to put myself potentially in harm’s way. Had our relationship been nascent, there is no way this picture could have been captured, because at its heart there is a triangular trust among three mammals.
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