New Photos from Central Africa


Following my exhibition opening in Hamburg, I flew off to central Africa. For eight days we endured 110 degree heat; there was no way to escape it, and I was drinking nearly two gallons of water per day. Re-entry to chilly Seattle has been a shock to the system.

For months we planned the logistics of this trip – do we take drones or not? Hire planes or not? While in Hamburg we received word from the U.S. Ambassador to this central African nation that it was not advisable to take the drone, so we scrambled & FedExed the equipment home.

This turned out to be good advice since it was almost impossible to find the elephants from the ground, and we would have needed to locate them before we could send the drones into the air. The elephants are very nervous for a reason; herds in this region, as all over the continent, have been under attack by poachers. However, the African Parks personnel believe they may be calming down just a bit after a couple years of fairly successful anti-poaching enforcement.

We ended up hiring the plane that had dropped us off at the beginning of the trip and had the back cargo door taken off. We flew over the herd, which had divided into two. By the time we departed the park the herd had split into several smaller groups. It was good timing since capturing pictures of hundreds of elephants at once are highly unlikely in the future.

If you are interested in traveling to Africa with me, I am leading a photo journey in Namibia in September of 2018. Add your name to the pre-registration list now!

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6 Responses to “New Photos from Central Africa”

  1. Susan says:

    Spectacular images! I’ve never seen or heard of an elephant migration and I’m sorry to learn it is due to poachers.

  2. Ivo Hula says:

    Great Shots, Art. I am wondering about your lens selection for these images. I know you use the Canon 200-400 with 1.4; was it used here? Did you have a longer lens? I am planning to go to Africa but want to be prepared with the right lens. I was in Costa Rica recently and was doing some bird photography, however, I felt a long lens was a must and a 600/4 with converters would have been ideal. Your Thoughts?

  3. John Nelson says:

    Beautiful images art. Can any of these images be purchased! My wife and I just love elephants.

  4. Louis-René Dubois says:

    I love your work Art and i’m reading your blog since i met you in Montreal a few years ago on a conference you did on creativity. I’m going to be on a safari also myself in september 2018( already Booked and reserved )i wonder if you could send me your itinerary ,it could be so nice to meet you there if only we cross road .
    here is my itinerary : Fly in portion Sossusvlei/Namib Rand nature reserve sept 4-5-6-7-8,2018 then the Self drive portion that follow this itinerary …Swakupmund/kaokoland/Damaraland/Etosha Ntl Park/Okonjima /Windhoek sept 9 to 22,2018.
    Flying then to LE CAP in SA for 6 days then after we are going to fly in the SABI SAND North near KRUGER PARK IN SA.
    I would be more then exited to give you a joyful hand in meeting you in Namibia , sept 2018.
    I follow all your posts and for sure one of these days I,ll book a creativity photography trip with you ART ,i love your creativity. Thank you for being so authentic.
    Louis-René Dubois Bromont,Qc CANADA

  5. Love the shots. Was this Central African Republic? Looking into Chad trip soon. Both countries just opening up to the outside, but curious how specific the “central” is.

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