Reactions to 'Africa' & Nick Brandt

I fell in love with Nick Brandt's pictures. The way he answered the question about his inspiration, 

"Simply, I find myself indescribably moved every time I go to these places and see these animals in these settings.
There is something profoundly iconic, mythological even, about the animals of East and southern Africa. There is also something deeply, emotionally stirring and affecting about the plains of Africa—those vast, green rolling plains punctuated by graphically perfect acacia trees under the huge skies." (Brandt, Interview)

really affected me, and made me see the pictures the way he does; a picture of the animals' soul. 

Also, when Brandt talked about his experience with the loss of wild life in the same area over 13 years, it made me think of all the things we could do to help. 

I love this photo and everything about it. The man seems to be "one with the tusks", or he could be hiding his tears for the loss of this giant elephant.
The plain background and landscape makes the picture more real, and makes it much more dramatic.
This picture shows the rule of simplicity, as the background is very plain and accents the main focus, and the rule of thirds because the man is in the bottom left box. It also shows the rule of lines. The lines of the tusks curve up to the man crouching on the ground.



Nick Brandt

Brandt uses a Pentax 67II with two fixed lenses. He doesn't use telephoto lenses because he thinks that getting close to the animals and studying them while waiting for the right picture will give him an insight into their personality.

Brandt explains why he takes his photos saying,
 " I'm not interested in creating work that is simply documentary or filled with action and drama, which has been the norm in the photography of animals in the wild. What I am interested in is showing the animals simply in the state of Being. In the state of Being before they no longer are. Before, in the wild at least, they cease to exist. (Brandt)
He also talks about Africa saying,
"This world is under terrible threat, all of it caused by us. To me, every creature, human or nonhuman, has an equal right to live, and this feeling, this belief that every animal and I are equal, affects me every time I frame an animal in my camera. The photos are my elegy to these beautiful creatures, to this wrenchingly beautiful world that is steadily, tragically vanishing before our eyes."(Brandt)