Today is World Elephant Day, and as you know – I’ve got at least a couple of photos of these amazing beasts! Enjoy the slide show, and if you’re so inclined I happen to be running a sale on all my books through the end of the month – treat yourself or get some early holiday shopping done with a singed/inscribed copy of Wild Elephants! Use code AUG22SAVE20 and get a 20% discount. Request a signature or inscription if you’d like one – just keep in mind this could delay your order as I can only sign when I’m in town!
Today we celebrate one of the more iconic and often symbolic creatures of the animal kingdom; the elephant.
Long revered for their size (African elephants weigh as much as 22,000 pounds) and intelligence, elephants are one of the few species to use tools and employ cohesive teamwork. They are also one of the more expressive and emotional members of the animal kingdom, emoting feelings of empathy and grief for fallen companions.
On this day where we honor these amazing creatures and reaffirm our efforts to conserve and expand their numbers, it couldn’t be a better time to discuss a book project and launch event that I am honored and elated to be a part of. Remembering Elephants is a collaborative effort encompassing the work of 65 of the world’s top wildlife photographers documenting the life of an elephant. 100% of the proceeds from each book sold will benefit conservation efforts.
The book will be published in September. Field Biologist Ian Redmond and myself will be speaking at the launch event in London on September 22nd. If you’re able to make it, I would love to see you there to share our respects for these wonderful animals!
An exhibit representing the book will show from the launch to October 1st at La Galleria, Pall Mall in London.
I will be in London in late September to help launch of the much-heralded Remembering Elephants book project benefiting the Born Free Foundation. There will be a special evening about elephant conservation and photography at the prestigious Royal Geographical Society in London (1 Kensington Gore, Kensington, London SW7 2AR, UK) on September 22nd at 7:30pm.
The event will be introduced by Born Free founder Virginia McKenna OBE and as well as a presentation of the images from the book, will include talks by elephant expert Ian Redmond OBE. I will be keynoting with my Earth Is My Witness presentation, with an emphasis on my experience photographing elephants. The evening will culminate in an auction of some of the images from the book. The books themselves will also be on sale on the night with some of the 64 participating photographers available to sign them.
ALL profits from the evening will go to elephant conservation in Africa.
Along with many other top photographers, I am participating in the Remembering Elephants book benefiting the Born Free Foundation. This is a Kickstarter campaign so you can pre-order your book and opt for other rewards. Pledge by September 22nd.
A study by Sam Wasser, who I’ve had a great working relationship with for several years, has been published in the journal Science that finds the poaching of Ivory in Africa comes from two main sources, including large elephant reserves in Tanzania and Mozambique. You can find out more from the story on NPR’s Morning Edition program or from The Seattle Times article.
Art proudly supports the research being done on tracking poached
elephant ivory by the University of Washington’s Center for Conservation
Biology. They have identified poaching hot spots and potential trade
routes by developing a genetic method to track the geographic origin of
poached ivory.
Read more about the Center for Conservation Biology
In addition, Sam Wasser, the CCB Director, will be attending the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) conference in Qatar to press for further elephant conservation.
