Series · Elephants

In the Land of Giants

Being around elephants has always made me feel small—in the best possible way. Their size is part of it, but so are their intelligence, individuality, and the extraordinary amount of character written into every fold of skin, streak of mud, scar, and gesture.

In the Land of Giants is about that feeling of awe, and about what it means to share the planet with an animal so enormous, intelligent, emotional, and profoundly its own. Years of studying elephants have taught me to look closely. These photographs are my attempt to invite other people to do the same.

Greater Kruger, South Africa An ongoing study of elephants
A small elephant group crossing green savanna with a safari vehicle in the distance.
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African elephant moving through green woodland with its trunk lifted toward its mouth.
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Tight elephant portrait centered on the eye and textured folds of skin.
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Black-and-white portrait of an African elephant emerging through tall grass.
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Black-and-white portrait of a tusked African elephant standing in open bush.
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The longer I spend with elephants, the less their size is what impresses me most. I notice the textures of their skin, the dirt and mud that give each animal character, the constant communication, and the small gestures between individuals. They are unmistakably elephants, but they are also unmistakably themselves.

It doesn’t get much better in life than spending time with them. And the more time I spend in their presence, the harder it is to imagine a world diminished by their absence.

Black-and-white frontal portrait of an African elephant walking forward with its ears open.
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Black-and-white portrait of an African elephant walking forward with its trunk curled upward.
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Close view of an African elephant’s curled trunk and tusk at the water’s surface.
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Close elephant study showing the eye, ear, and dense texture of weathered skin.
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Tusked African elephant standing in profile among pale savanna vegetation.
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African elephant walking toward the camera through a haze of dust.
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