Wildlife/Animals nominee

Lions are symbols of power and strength; this photo clearly depicts this through his intense pose, his magnificent mane and the deliberate tensing of his deltoids (evidently for this photo shoot!). It is their shoulders that make a blow from a lion’s paw like one from a drop hammer. Only two things in the animal world are stronger: the whip from the tail of a whale and a kick from a giraffe.

We ventured out to Sand River on the border of Tanzania on our penultimate day in the Mara to be greeted by the entire Black Rock pride, lounging across a rocky area - a photographer’s heaven. This young male perched up from just below a rock for a couple of minutes. With both the dark horizon in the background and a large rock in the foreground, this made the photo a perfect candidate for black and white, emphasising the depth and almost a three dimensional feel.

Growing up in Zambia, I was fortunate to get numerous opportunities to explore the flora and fauna of this spectacular region of Africa. I appreciated the glaring contrasts at a young age; ecological, physical, visual, and mental. The serenity of these vast lands and the excitement of spotting wildlife often transpired within me; more so when I found photography (or when photography found me).

My goal with my photography is not only to showcase the beauty of African wildlife, but to bring the viewers closer to these magnificent species and their natural habitat through my own creative lens, both visually and emotionally, whether through their interactions, mannerisms, or nature’s circle of life.

My role as a wildlife photographer exists because there are beautiful and spectacular moments to capture in the wild, but therein exists an important duty to show my continued support for promoting conservation and the medium of photography is a crucial tool to do so.