Honoring the Giving Photographer

Peer into the lens to experience your subject, that one special image that you simply must capture. Memory and emotion are attached to that photograph. Sometimes, you take many shots to depict the perfect perspective. Professional photographers snap thousands of shots, edit for hours to get the right image, the picture that expresses the life and intensity in the subject. The photographers who work tirelessly to give a voice to elephants will donate work to be auctioned tomorrow night at the reception for The Ivory Belongs to Elephants Walk. They capture the magnificence of wildlife, including elephants, prancing, playing babies, magnificent lumbering bulls, playful loving families, mothers with trunks wrapped around newborn calves, strong and noble matriarchs. Can you imagine the love and respect they must feel for these gentle giants? Each image is a gift to the world that breathes life into photographs,portraying hope, displaying the affection, care and intelligence, strength and beauty of the elephant.

Michael North, long-time photographer in Kenya who donates his images to conservation efforts finds himself “emotionally trapped between being in awe of and fearing for my subjects. Conservation photography is a window into the very soul of the elephant and inspires us to respond, engage and fight for this glorious species.” Donating to the Ivory Belongs to Elephants Walk campaign, Michael has walked with Jim Nyamu in Kenya, photographing Jim’s historic walk in Africa that raised awareness and funds for the Elephant Neighbors Center. The ENC’s mission is to “experience a landscape where elephants and communities are roaming widely and peacefully and in harmony with local economy and ecological environment.”

Billy Dodson, a seasoned professional photographer from the US offers the image featured on the official t-shirt of the Ivory Belongs to Elephants Walk. He created Amboseli Family, an image that was displayed in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in the US. About his subjects, Billy is quoted as saying, “I think it actually helps if you love nature, or some aspect of it, to the point of obsession. I’m not recommending insanity, but in my case I think it’s helped make me successful,” Dodson says. “If you’re passionate about your subjects, I think it makes it much easier to capture their heart and essence.”

Dick Berry, also from the US shows us his concern for the elephant species warning that “the saying goes that time is on your side, but as it stands now that is so far from the truth. The killing of African Elephants has recently accelerated out of control in certain parts of Africa and if the bloodshed doesn’t stop they will become extinct in a very short time.” He donates his pieces to save the species, the goal of so many of us across the globe.

From South Africa, photographer Rob Fleming tells us that his ambition is to “provide services to aid the existing establishments in combating the war on our wildlife, and combat the demolition of the environment to fill the greed of man, but to the detriment of our fauna and flora.” Rob is donates his work to the auction as well as to schools in South Africa to educate students.

We thank each of these men for sharing a piece of themselves, images adored by many and dedicated to the elephant and its conservation. Please join the Reception and Auction, September 24, 2013 at Nonantum Farm, Landenburg, PA. Contact Jen Samuel at: jenpoetess@aol.com for details.