Out of Africa: Stunning wildlife photography

StumbleUpon really does do what it says it’ll do — find stories, pictures, videos and more selected just for you! It just brought me to Young Gallery and a collection of stunning wildlife photographs by Nick Brandt. The images that Nick captures are jaw-dropping gorgeous...

Elephant Drinking

Giraffe Fan

Hippos on Mara River

In Nick’s words… Few photographers have ever considered the photography of wild animals, as distinctly opposed to the genre of Wildlife Photography, as an art form. The emphasis has generally been on capturing the drama of wild animals IN ACTION, on capturing that dramatic single moment, as opposed to simply animals in the state of being.

Zebras Turning Heads

I’ve always thought this something of a wasted opportunity. The wild animals of Africa lend themselves to photographs that extend aesthetically beyond the norm of 35mm-color telephoto wildlife photography. And so it is, that in my own way, I would like to yank the subject matter of wildlife into the arena of fine art photography. To take photographs that transcend what has been a largely documentative genre.

  Buffalo Group Portrait

Aside from using certain impractical photographic techniques, there’s one thing I do whilst shooting that I believe makes a big difference: I get extremely close to these very wild animals, often within a few feet of them. I don’t use telephoto lenses. This is because I want to see as much of the sky and landscape as possible — to see the animals within the context of their environment.

Giraffe Looking Over Plains

 Cheetah & Cubs Lying on Rock

That way, the photos become as much about the atmosphere of the place as the animals. And being that close to the animals, I get a real sense of intimate connection to them, to the specific animal in front of me.

Baboons in Profile

Sometimes a deliberate feeling that they’re almost presenting themselves for a studio portrait.

Chimpanzee Posing 

Gorilla on Rock

  Sitting Lionesses

Why the animals of Africa in particular? And more particularly still, East Africa? There is perhaps something more profoundly iconic, mythical, mythological even, about the animals of East Africa, as opposed to say, the Arctic or South America.

 Giraffes in Evening Light

There is also something deeply, emotionally stirring and affecting about the plains of Africa — the vast green rolling plains punctuated by the graphically perfect acacia trees.

Cheetah in Tree

My images are unashamedly idyllic and romantic, a kind of enchanted Africa. They’re my elegy to a world that is steadily, tragically vanishing.

Rhino on Lake

  Lioness Looking Out Over Plains

This is just a small sampling of Nick’s jaw-dropping photos. You can see more on Nick’s web site and on the Young Gallery web site, as well as in Nick’s two books, On This Earth: Photos From East Africa and A Shadow Falls (click the pics to go to amazon.ca).

Which photo is your favourite??

I can help you make your home be what you want it to be. Contact me at kelly@jaxdecor.ca or call me at 613.291.2491

All images and information from Young Gallery