The Wild Ones — four cheetah cubs playing together, black and white fine art photograph from Maasai Mara, Kenya by Vasilis Moustakas
The Wild Ones — four cheetah cubs playing together, black and white fine art photograph from Maasai Mara, Kenya by Vasilis Moustakas

The Wild Ones

$1,000.00

Maasai Mara, Kenya 2023

Photographing four individual animals in one frame is hard. Photographing four young cheetah cubs in one frame, all doing something interesting at the same time, is a matter of alignment and luck in almost equal parts. Many things have to come together for a composition like this to hold. Most of the time the cubs scatter before you get anything.

What I wanted to show here is the bond between the four of them. They are playing, learning through play, getting curious about everything happening around them. The one standing up against the tree is investigating. The others are watching, leaning into each other, close. Cheetah cubs learn most of what they will need to survive from this kind of play. Without a mother around full-time in a few months, play is what will keep them alive.

This playfulness is something I think we lose. Not just cheetah cubs growing into alert, anxious adults — us too. As we grow up we forget how to play. We treat it as something for children, something unproductive, something to be put aside for the real work of adult life. But it is not unproductive. It is how we stay balanced. It is how we stay relaxed inside a modern world that is stressful and often toxic. These four cubs do not know any of that. They are just being what they are. That is the lesson.

This image is from The Heart of the Wild. I do not photograph wildlife to document it. I photograph because the natural world still carries things the modern world has mostly forgotten. Sometimes the lesson is in a sovereign lion or a mother carrying her cub. Sometimes it is in four young cheetahs at the base of a tree on a quiet morning.

Maasai Mara, Kenya 2023

Photographing four individual animals in one frame is hard. Photographing four young cheetah cubs in one frame, all doing something interesting at the same time, is a matter of alignment and luck in almost equal parts. Many things have to come together for a composition like this to hold. Most of the time the cubs scatter before you get anything.

What I wanted to show here is the bond between the four of them. They are playing, learning through play, getting curious about everything happening around them. The one standing up against the tree is investigating. The others are watching, leaning into each other, close. Cheetah cubs learn most of what they will need to survive from this kind of play. Without a mother around full-time in a few months, play is what will keep them alive.

This playfulness is something I think we lose. Not just cheetah cubs growing into alert, anxious adults — us too. As we grow up we forget how to play. We treat it as something for children, something unproductive, something to be put aside for the real work of adult life. But it is not unproductive. It is how we stay balanced. It is how we stay relaxed inside a modern world that is stressful and often toxic. These four cubs do not know any of that. They are just being what they are. That is the lesson.

This image is from The Heart of the Wild. I do not photograph wildlife to document it. I photograph because the natural world still carries things the modern world has mostly forgotten. Sometimes the lesson is in a sovereign lion or a mother carrying her cub. Sometimes it is in four young cheetahs at the base of a tree on a quiet morning.

‘‘Cheetah cubs learn most of what they will need to survive from this kind of play.’’

The Wild Ones — black and white cheetah cub fine art print, framed, by Vasilis Moustakas

The Edition

Edition of 7 + 2 Artist Proofs

The seven prints are shared across all three sizes, so whichever scale you choose, it is one of seven. When the last print is placed, the image is retired and never printed again.

Pricing follows the edition. Each print placed moves the next one up, so the earliest collectors acquire the work at its lowest price.

Sizes

Small: 24 × 13.5 in (61 × 34 cm)
Medium: 36 × 20.25 in (91 × 51 cm)
Large: 60 × 33.75 in (152 × 86 cm)

Prices begin at $1,000 for the Small print.

The Print

Each print is made as an archival pigment print on Hahnemühle fine art paper, chosen for its depth, tonal range and a surface that rewards close looking. Every print is signed and numbered by hand and arrives with a Certificate of Authenticity recording the title, edition number and production details.

Framing

Bespoke framing is available on request. Tell me about the wall and the room, and I'll put together a frame, mount and finish that suit both the work and where it will live.

Acquiring the Work

For pricing and availability, write to me directly. Every enquiry is answered personally.

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Framing and Display Options