SCARFACE

Maasai Mara, Kenya 2017         

You don't need to be a fine art aficionado to immediately feel the impact of this image. Scarface is menacing.  He's not your everyday lion. He is king, and his reign was, and is, established by violent fraternal dominance. 

What makes this image special is it's proximity, poise and tack sharp focus on his eyes - in particular his single, badly damaged eye which makes him perhaps the world's most famous wild lion.  Proximity is crucial to the success of my images because without it the image is irreparably devoid of intimacy.  Although the necessary proximity had eluded me for several weeks while photographing lions in Kenya, this day ended my cold streak in a very big way. 

Out of the tall grass, and about 15 feet from where I was positioned, came the confident stroll many fans of NatGeo Safari LIVE and Big Cat Diary have become familiar with.  He's much too dangerous to photograph on foot, and much too unpredictable to capture via remote camera deployment, so my only legitimate option was to do the best I could from the relative safety of our open air vehicle.  Being at or below eye level was key in conveying size and emotion, so in order to achieve a shot worthy of his majesty, I was going to have to do it 'blind'.  As he made his way right by our vehicle, I had but a brief instance where I could safely reach my arm out of the truck, get my camera as low as possible, and aim 'shooting from the hip'.  As I did this, Scarface paused and took a few quick, deep breaths right into my lens. I knew that if I got the shot it would be powerful, because I was terrified.  I took 13 images in that decisive moment, 12 of which were misses.  Lucky number 13 is what you're looking at here, and it's an image I'm very proud to have taken.

• AVAILABLE SIZES

• LARGE: 44" X 62"

• STANDARD: 30" X 42"

• AVAILABLE EDITIONS

• LARGE: Edition of 14

• STANDARD: Edition of 14