Never Alone

Middle of the day, sun straight overhead and far too hard for anything. This is the hour most people put the camera away. The herd was drinking and the young one in the middle stood exactly the way you see it here. I did not turn him towards me. We had simply picked the right place to park.

Look at where he is standing. Not at the edge, not off on his own, but closed in by the rest of the herd. That is how an elephant grows up. A young animal is rarely alone, and if something happens the group shuts around it.

Black and white brings this back to what elephants are actually about: the hide. The folds, the cracks, the dust, and the water still running off it.