The Gaze That Does Not Yield

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The Gaze That Does Not Yield
Charcoal on Paper
70cm x 90cm


There was something different about the zebras that day.

I had spent time watching them at the water, and what struck me was how intently they observed their surroundings.

I was hidden from sight, so they could not see me. But they could see the camera.

It was such a small change.

A round glass disc where there had not been one before.

Everything else was exactly as it usually was when they came to drink. The landscape was familiar. The water was where it should be. Nothing obvious had changed.

And yet they noticed.

Again and again, I watched them stop and look.

Not dramatically. There was no sudden panic. Just an alertness that seemed almost disproportionate to the tiny alteration in their surroundings.

They were watching the camera lens.

And I began to wonder how much more closely they must observe the world than we do.

We move through familiar places and very quickly stop seeing them. We know the road, the room, the view from the window. Our minds become accustomed to what is there, and the smallest details disappear into the background.

For the zebras, nothing seemed to disappear.

A change in the landscape was enough to make them pause.

A movement.

A sound.

Something where something had not been before.

They were reading their surroundings constantly.

Perhaps they have to.

Their lives depend upon noticing.


Continue exploring

Collected Moments of Survival
Explore the drawings, stories and book behind the project.
Click Here to Explore the project 

Original artwork
Original works from the series are available to reserve ahead of the December exhibition.
Click Here View available works 

Next story
At the Edge of Appearance

Location: Naukluft, Namibia

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