THE HEART OF THE WILD
Fine Art Photography from the Maasai Mara
The Heart of the Wild
Black-and-white photographs of Maasai Mara wildlife, made close enough that the proximity becomes the subject.
Shot over two weeks with two Masai guides who knew the land in a way I never will.
The whole thing started with a kid in Greece watching The Lion King.
The Mara stayed in my head for years.
Somewhere from the films, far away from me.
Then I was on a small plane from Nairobi
watching the plains open up below.
So much happens there at once.
Lions and elephants on the same open plain.
Cold hands around coffee at dawn, hard sun by noon.
The guides
Tinka and Jamlick knew the land and the animals better than I ever will. Without them most of these images don't exist.
The first days were not good for me. Shooting too much, reacting to everything. Somewhere in the middle of the trip I slowed down. Started waiting instead of chasing. That's when the work started.
THE CRAFT
I work for eye contact more than anything. Hours of waiting, then a second, and most of the time the second never comes.
Black and white takes everything else away and the animal has to hold the image alone.
Maybe one percent of what I shot survived the edit.
If an image did not make me feel something
it was just documentation.
Documentation is not the work.
Maybe one percent of what I shot survived the edit.
If an image did not make me feel something
it was just documentation.
Documentation is not the work.