An Ode to Stillness

Male buffalos lead an intriguing life. Kicked out of the herd at adolescence, they form alliances with other stray males and become such a formidable force that even the largest predators would think twice before taking them on. However this male has outlived all those former allies and now roams the savannah, doubly weakened by age and solitude. Put to pasture he may be, but his attitude suggests that he will not go down gently into the good night!

‘Younger siblings eat last’ — a lesson that this forlorn semi-adult lion in the Maasai Mara learned the hard way. A massive lion pride had just made a kill and while the larger lions were busy feeding, this young lion had to content himself with waiting for his turn, head resting forlornly on a feasting family member.

An impala, which is a common antelope in Africa, decides to pose in front of the rising sun, to dramatic effect. The image was deliberately under-exposed so as to not lose the highlights in the sun. Most sunrise or sunset silhouettes are in colour, with the deep orange hues being the dramatic hero of the images. In this less usual black and white treatment, the unsung impala is the hero instead.

Giraffes have a knack for striking the most statuesque poses. And if there are trees nearby, the potential for interesting compositions shoots up dramatically. In this case, not only were the giraffes standing still, there was a place where a tree and two giraffes were standing one after another is the order of diminishing height.

Whenever we are traveling in Africa, we always get the feeling that the sky is low. And in the rainy season, when there are thunder clouds, forget the sky being low, we almost get the feeling that the sky is going to fall on our heads. The absence of an animal in this image marks a departure from our norm. However the fact that the clouds and light formed a shape that mirrored the tree on the ground was too rare a moment to let pass!

Amidst the dramatic Sal trees at Pench Reserve in India, a lone figure sits—still, contemplative, present. The langur, dwarfed by the towering trees, seems both part of the landscape and apart from it, lost in a daydream that stretches endlessly. There is no movement, no urgency—only a deep, profound curiosity that feels almost sacred, as if time itself has paused to understand what the langur is dreaming about.

Still pools of water make for stunning natural mirrors and this flamingo proves that even when stripped of its natural pink hues, it makes for a stunning subject.

As photographers who work primarily in black and white, we often get asked how we would approach animals or birds whose primary calling card is their colour. This image was an attempt to validate our creative hypothesis that at times, there is enough beauty in form, shape and gesture to make colour redundant. 

Rain not only seems to bring out great depth of emotion in big cats, but also offers us the opportunity to get creative with both photography settings and processing. One evening at the Maasai Mara in Kenya, it was interesting to watch a large lion pride getting caught in a sudden shower and how differently they reacted. While some of the cubs welcomed the rain and continued their play with renewed vigour, others tried to seek shelter close to their moms. The mums in turn sought shelter where they could in the open savannah surrounded by massive black boulders. What struck us however, was this one female and cub who seemed to be immune to all the activity around them. They stayed put and with great calm, accepted the drops of rain that fell on them like blessings from above. In the fast fading light, their silhouette, rim lit by sunset, underlined their fortitude and showed a stoic, solid presence against the droplets that pelted down. This was deliberately under-exposed in camera and further in post processing in order to eventually get this look.

Age cannot wither nor rain dampen her infinite fortitude (with all due respect to the bard). A lioness decides to brave the rain rather than rush for shelter, in the Masai Mara in Kenya. This image was photographed back-lit, under-exposed in camera and in post processing to focus on the essential elements that tell this story.

It is said that of all the English phrases, the saddest is "It might have been". This cheetah had spent a large part of the evening trying to hunt but failing each time.  The sun was about to set and denied of night vision, it meant that the cheetah would have to make peace with spending the night on an empty stomach.  Long after the failed hunt, the cheetah just sat in the blowing grass looking toward her missed prey. 

We, of course, don’t know what was going on in her mind, but it did seem that she was reflecting on what might have been.

Amid the vast expanse of Solio Game Reserve, two visually contrasting figures meet—one, a towering behemoth of armoured strength, the other, a delicate wisp of white. The rhino, a creature shaped by time and endurance, lowers its head, its massive horn almost touching the egret standing unshaken before it. In this fleeting moment, power and fragility coexist, bound by an unspoken understanding.

The egret, dwarfed in size but not in presence, stands with quiet confidence, as if unfazed by the giant before it. The rhino, a titan of the land, does not charge, does not turn away. Instead, it acknowledges the bird’s presence in a rare moment of stillness.

While there are many showstopper animals on an African safari, a full-grown male lion with a prominent mane is the star among stars. This lion was particularly striking and it chose to sit in this regal pose. The strong breeze meant that its mane was flowing. For added matinée idol effect, we added some in-camera blur to further blur the grass and mane!

Beneath a dramatically cloudy sky in the Greater Maasai Mara, a lone cheetah sits on a mound. She is completely at rest but one look at her eyes reminds us that she is one of the elite hunters on this planet.

Photographed at our favourite time, namely the rainy season, the sheer volume of cloud in the sky acts as a counterpoint to the cheetah’s lone presence. But this is not loneliness. It is something deeper, something more powerful. The cheetah is not simply alone; it is a sentinel, a silent observer of a world that never stops moving.

An iconic white rhino seemingly stands guard in the shadow of the even more iconic Mt Kenya. Photographed backlit at dawn in Solio Game Reserve, Kenya on an overcast day that offered a combination of dramatic clouds and early morning mist, both of which created a wonderful mood for photographs. This morning we seemed to have all the elements of cloud, mist and a visible mountain and all that was missing was an animal to frame against all of them. As luck would have it, this rhino obliged by not just showing up, but also lifting its head almost to mirror the pointed peak of the mountain.

With its ears fanned out and body ramrod still, this elephant signals that he is not happy. The behaviour of fanning its ears is designed to make himself look larger and deter any competitor or threat from precipitate action. Therein lies the paradox. The world's largest land mammal would rather broaden its frame to deter conflict rather than use its unparalleled size to win an easy fight.

In the open grasslands of Solio Ranch, Kenya, a titan of a white rhino stands under the cloud of a swarm of tiny ticks that surround it. The cloud of ticks clings to its body, a reminder that even the strongest creatures can be made to struggle by the seemingly insignificant. Yet there is hope, in the shape of a few oxpeckers perched on its back, feeding on the pests and playing their part in nature’s balance.