The Plight of the Elephant Turned Me Inside Out

Photo @2003 JBLakier Photography

“...we are just a vehicle used by the public to shed light upon issues that they hold dear.” ~The Inside Out Project

Many many years ago, when I was just a wee thing living in South Africa, if my father found himself with a work or school or rugby break, my sister and I were bundled up and snuggled up in the backseat of the car. At 4 in the morning we left the lights of Johannesburg behind us and drove until dawn to the Kruger National Park. Just as the sun rose, and the long veld grasses lit up with gold, we passed through the gate and into a vast landscape of my favorite childhood memories.

Photo @2008 JBLakier Photography

I used to know the names of every species of bird, the name and markings of every type of antelope. We, the humans, would spend the day enclosed in the car, while the animals roamed freely. The best and only truly humane kind of zoo. I was spoiled with these experiences. We watched outside the window as the car crawled slowly along dusty roads, alert, with eyes peeled, searching the thorn bushes, the boughs of the boabab trees, and the long grass, for the best of the days’ sightings. The magic was in the revealing.

 Photo @2008 JBLakier Photography

For me, nothing was more majestic than an encounter with the mighty, gentle elephant. Not unlike most animals, I can watch them for hours, the way they socialize and communicate and care for their young is so touching, tender, and…human. There were numerous occasions when my father was so focused on capturing a photograph while we kids in the backseat screamed with terror, as an agitated solitary bull elephant charged. We had gotten a little too close. Dad knew all their names, many of them were identified by the size and the shape of their tusks.

 

Photo @2008 JBL Photography

I first learned about the devastation from an article in National Geographic from October 2012. I was horrified. I was crushed. I noticed postings on a Facebook page called Elephant Voices and started following. I started to think about what I could do to help raise awareness and put an end to the poaching and the Ivory trade. I submitted an idea to one of my favorite art movements the Inside Out Project.

 

Photo @2005 JBL Photography

Here is my pitch and this is what they said:

Me:
Is the Inside Out project limited to faces of people? There is a genocide taking place in Africa of Elephants and Rhinos for their tusks for the Ivory Trade. I had the thought that an Inside  Out project sharing the faces of these beautiful creatures would help spread the word and educate the masses not to buy it. I have a number of people I could organize a collaboration with to see this happen. Thoughts?

Team JR:
This sounds like a great project, yet we do not allow for animals to participate. However, if you would like to highlight the people who fight on the behalf of these magnificent animals we would love to have you participate in our project. If this option doesn’t suffice for you then we suggest that you feel free to utilize the theme of our project to create the action yourself, as we are just a vehicle used by the public to shed light upon issues that they hold dear.

My Inside Out Project begins now!

As I track down the angels who are working so hard to stop the genocide of our animal friends. And I start to consider a site with the greatest visibility and impact to honor the angels and understand the plight. A second project will be taking shape. This one for the faces that I hold so dear.

Photo @2008 JBL Photography

Is there a cause you feel passionate about? Submit to the Inside Out Project here.

Coming up Soon, Inside Out in Action: On Mother’s Day, May 30th in Nicaragua, I will be documenting the pasting of an Inside Out Project in Granada, Nicaragua. Here is a preview.

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Photo credit @2010 Bradley Olson

I met Jim Karsh at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. He was the loud mouth in class always giving us a good laugh. He also sold me my very first DSLR. His final project had most of our class in tears. We both share a love of broken down disintegrating buildings and things. His sports photography is pretty slick too. Over the past few years, he has been a constant source of inspiration. I have already tried out a few of these tips and I hope they will inspire you to hit the streets with your camera. You can find more of his images at jimkarshphotography.com

I’m a pilot for a U.S. airline and for the past 17 years I have flown international flights exclusively, mostly in Asia. Going overseas every month has given me the opportunity to satisfy my photography addiction by wandering in cities I might have never visited if not for my job. In doing that I have found that I most enjoy street photography, capturing the faces and ways of living that are quite different than what we are used to in America.

The first task I undertake when going to a foreign place with my camera is research. Bangkok, for example, is a huge city. I may be able to get good shots just by leaving my hotel and wandering at random, but with only one day to shoot on most layovers, I don’t want to waste time on a fishing expedition. The internet is a great resource for information on places to photograph and I make liberal use of Google Earth to scope out areas that may produce good photos.

The other preparation I recommend is to be familiar with your camera. Opportunities in street photography are sometimes fleeting, here one moment and gone the next, so you want to make use of all your tools to get the shot before it goes away. Know your autofocus modes, how to shoot in aperture and manual modes, and how to use autobracketing and auto ISO.

When you’re in the area where you want to shoot, be patient. If you find a compelling background, stick around for awhile and see who or what happens by. When you move, move slowly and pay attention. A compelling image may be a few steps down an alley or just inside an open door.

Of course, most of the best street photos include people, a fact which raises the question, what is the best way to approach a person and get a great photo? Should I ask or not? Even after shooting in a number of Asian cities, this is a question I don’t have a definitive answer for and I go with what seems right at the time. One thing I have learned is as a foreigner in a local area, you have already more than your share of attention and when you bring a camera to your face, every eye in the vicinity will turn to you. So I’ve learned to shoot from my hip or chest or with the camera on a table or other surface and I’ve gotten excellent pictures that way.

If there is a subject whose attention is fully trained on me, trying to sneak a shot is pretty futile and may bring anger instead of acceptance, so I find the best approach for me is to learn “hello” and “thank you” in the local language and approach with a smile. Pantomiming a shot always gets your request across and if I get a no, I walk away. More often than not, I get a yes if I approach with a hello, a smile and a compliment with hand signals on how interesting the person’s face looks, and I often get a thank you if I show the resulting image on my camera’s LCD.

There is a famous photographic axiom, “f/8 and be there,” and in street photography you’ve got to get out and shoot. The images won’t come to you as they would as if you owned a studio. You’ve got to go out and get them. One of the best shooting experiences of my photographic life happened because I overcame a huge desire to stay in a warm hotel room instead of going out in a cold windy Shanghai with sore feet to shoot. I forced myself to go and had a magical day and got some of the best images I had ever taken.

The last bit of advice is if you want unique images, get out of the normal tourist spots and go into areas where the locals are and where “real life” in that city is happening. Be safe, but a local market or artisan working on the street is much more interesting to me than the gazillionth photo of the Eiffel Tower.

To sum up, know your camera, research the city you want to shoot, learn a few local phrases, wear a smile and a positive attitude, take your time, be patient and most of all, BE THERE.

About the Images

1. While walking through a crowded market on the street by Wat Mahathat in Bangkok, I stepped into a restaurant because it was an open front and the inside looked interesting to me. This man came over waving his arms and talking animatedly and with a big smile, welcoming to the restaurant. When he realized that I was there only for a photograph his attitude changed completely, but he allowed the photo and stayed still while I took it, but it was apparent he wasn’t happy about it.

2. This was also in Shanghai and this man was reading the paper in front of his store. I loved the way his face was lit and started taking pictures. He looked up at me briefly but didn’t seem to mind that I was taking pictures and went on reading his paper.

3. On a trip to Manila I visited Payatas, this girl sat behind the bars on the front of her house and looked at me impassively while I photographed her. She never moved anything other than her eyes and never said anything to me.

4. I was wandering in the alleyways in an old neighborhood of Shanghai and passed this gent sitting in a doorway. I had the camera down by my side and snapped a few pictures as I stood near him. The light is very diffused and soft in these alleys making for good conditions for this kind of photography.

5. In Payatas, the mother of all garbage dumps, I walked through a neighborhood where squatters make their living by sorting through garbage from the dump. This little boy stood frozen against the wall of a small store while I took his picture several times. Shortly after I took this he burst into tears and ran down the street to his mother, crying at the top of his lungs.

6. In a Shanghai street market, this man was chopping up fish on a board on the ground. I took several shots of him doing that but didn’t like them much. Then he stood up and with the camera at my chest I took one shot, which I liked much better than the other ones.

7. This lady was working in a ticket window that also sold gifts at a shrine in Nagoya, Japan. I don’t speak much Japanese and she didn’t speak much English but she sat in the shadows of the office and held out the little rabbit doll and managed to make me understand that it was for luck.

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Stay with the locals. It is sort of obvious. You traveled a long distance to go somewhere else. You wanted a change of pace and a new experience. Stay with the locals. The people that look like you that come from the same place, lead similar lifestyles and create microcosms of where they come from here, the things you were wanting to get away from, won’t share the magic with you. Not because they are holding out, but because they don’t know it. There will be shared experiences of course, of travel, of frustrations, of challenges, of life in paradise. But the magic, the windows into a different way of life, won’t be opened for you. Language barriers needn’t stop you. If you are learning the language, immersion is the best way to practice. If you aren’t, it is the perfect place to start.

Today I was introduced to the Mamey Sapote Fruit. I was sitting down to lunch and noticed a vibrant smooth fruit with a hard shell on Dona Gloria’s plate. What is that? I asked. And so she shared a slice or two. I wasn’t prepared for such heavenliness. The sweet smooth flavors melted on my tongue. I swore I just ate pudding made from condensed milk, apricots, and peaches, whipped smooth and chilled for a few hours. And the shell, while easy enough to slice, is a naturally built in bowl. Mother nature just continues to floor me with her ingenuity. I am grateful to Dona Gloria for introducing me to the Sapote Fruit, another delight amongst the bountiful bounty for tasting here in Nicaragua.

How much happier could my taste buds be? Living in a country where Cacao, Coffee, and the Mamey Sapote fruit does grow.

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