This project brings back to life Ice Age giants that have captured our imagination: woolly mammoths and rhinos, cave bears, the giant Irish deer and the steppe bison. This is a journey back in time via the most formidable genes left in the glorious giants of today.
I travelled to Africa, North America and Asia to look for the very last individuals with magnificent genes. It took me several years and sometimes several trips to the same place to achieve that.
This project is unprecedented in the history of wildlife photography. In this series there are only a part of the best pictures achieved. Some of them are already published by National Geographic, Africa Geographic and Wild Planet.
Big plains bison are today’s equivalent of the prehistoric steppe bison.
Big Alaskan coastal brown bears ... cave bears.
White rhinos with horns-to-the-sky ... woolly rhinos.
Big antlered giant moose ... giant Irish deer.
African (and Asian) elephants with tusks-to-the-ground ... woolly mammoths.
There are very few individuals with such genes left today, sometimes less than 10 within the respective species. We may have a very last opportunity to save them. They need armed guards, medical surveillance and proper legal protection.
amateur category
The World As It Once Was (Series)
DESCRIPTION
AUTHOR
My work has been published by National Geographic, BBC Earth, GEO, Wild Planet Photo Magazine, Africa Geographic and Pachyderm, among others. Previously a nominee in FAPA and a finalist in Wildlife Comedy Photography Awards and in the Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year; won the grand prize in a national photo contest.
My flagship photographic project is called The World As It Once Was and is focused on the last "trophy" individuals within iconic wildlife species. This project is not about whether trophy hunting benefits or not conservation in general. It is also not about whether trophy hunting is moral or not. These are issue I leave aside for another day. This story is about one clear, unfortunate consequence of trophy hunting: the elimination of the individuals with the best genes from iconic wildlife species: in other words, the loss of intra-species biodiversity. This story is about bringing together the results of 30-40 years of scientific research and superb imagery. It is about showing these animals alive, as magnificent as they are. The question I have asked myself each time was: if a statue would have to be raised to a species, how would that look like?
My flagship photographic project is called The World As It Once Was and is focused on the last "trophy" individuals within iconic wildlife species. This project is not about whether trophy hunting benefits or not conservation in general. It is also not about whether trophy hunting is moral or not. These are issue I leave aside for another day. This story is about one clear, unfortunate consequence of trophy hunting: the elimination of the individuals with the best genes from iconic wildlife species: in other words, the loss of intra-species biodiversity. This story is about bringing together the results of 30-40 years of scientific research and superb imagery. It is about showing these animals alive, as magnificent as they are. The question I have asked myself each time was: if a statue would have to be raised to a species, how would that look like?
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