Before The Water

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Before the Water
Pastel and Charcoal on Fabriano
70cm x 90cm


Early mornings in Namibia have a particular quality of light.

There is a warmth to them that seems to come from everywhere at once. On this morning, the sun was still low behind the animals, glowing through the landscape and bathing everything in warm yellow light.

That is why I chose this colour for the drawing.

But it wasn't only the light that caught my attention.

It was the repetition.

When you spend enough time watching a herd, you begin to notice how often several animals will do exactly the same thing at almost exactly the same time.

One lowers its head.

Another follows.

Then another.

They stand together in almost perfect repetition — bodies, necks, heads, stripes — creating a pattern that seems almost too orderly to be natural.

And yet nobody has arranged them.

Nobody has told them where to stand.

There is no choreography.

They are simply responding to the same moment.

Perhaps one animal moves and the others follow. Perhaps they are all responding to something I cannot see or hear.

Whatever the reason, the result can be extraordinary.

As a photographer, I find myself watching the composition as much as I am watching the animals.

Suddenly a group of zebras becomes a series of repeating forms.

A line of backs.

A sequence of heads.

Stripes echoing stripes.

One movement reflected in another.

For a few seconds they look almost posed.

And then, just as quickly, the pattern changes.

One animal lifts its head.

Another turns.

Someone moves towards the water.

The composition breaks apart.

The moment is gone.

This is one of the things I love about photographing animals in the wild.

The most beautiful compositions are often the ones you have absolutely no control over.

You wait.

You watch.

And sometimes the animals arrange themselves.

Not for you.

Simply because this is what they do.

And for a brief moment, their ordinary behaviour creates something extraordinary.

Before the Water.


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Collected Moments of Survival
Explore the drawings, stories and book behind the project.
[Explore the project ]


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


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The Distance Narrows

Location: Namibia

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