Africa

Reading Nick Brandt's story about photographing wild animals was extremely moving to me. The fact that he is into saving animals that are being killed every year is amazing to hear. I love how he waits a very long time to get the right picture instead of rushing it.  

 This photo has to be my favorite because not only is it beautifully detailed, but you can visibly see the emotion on each of the elephants faces. This photo is a good example of simplicity. The background is cloudy but its not distracting at all. The focus is clearly on the elephants, as it should be. 

Nick Brandt

He uses a Pentax 67II with two fixed lenses. He doesn't use zoom lenses because he believes being authentically close to the animals "makes a huge difference in his ability to reveal their personality." He hopes to show a sense of intimacy with these animals where that is often uncommon. 

"I'm not interested in creating work that is simply documentary or filled with action and drama, which has been the norm in the photography of animals in the wild. What I am interested in is showing the animals simply in the state of Being. In the state of Being before they are no longer are. Before, in the wild at least, they cease to exist. This world is under terrible threat, all of it caused by us. To me, every creature, human or nonhuman, has an equal right to live, and this feeling, this belief that every animal and I are equal, affects me every time I frame an animal in my camera. The photos are my elegy to these beautiful creatures, to this wrenchingly beautiful world that is steadily, tragically vanishing before our eyes."