Photographs of the Kruger Without "Stories": Musings and Thoughts
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The funny thing about visiting the Kruger National Park as a photographer is that you will essentially have a "graveyard" filled with photographs that you do not have a story linked. That is, in contrast to the various posts I made recently on the Kruger and the stories linked to it, these photographs I am sharing here does not have a story linked to them. In fact, I am not sure why I photographed them besides the point that we were in the Kruger, and it feels like the "right" thing to do: see the elephant - take photographs of the elephant.
This is not new and uncommon. Recently, my mother sorted her things out, and came across multiple boxes of photographs of animals and settings she had no recollection of taking. She asked the same question: Why did we take photographs of this?
I think there is an allure to the idea the photographs capture a moment and the solidifies it. But there is the trouble in it if you do not immediately write something about it. We have fleeting memories, and we do not always know why we did something. So, going to the Kruger with my camera, I just took so many photographs because I could, because I thought about solidifying a moment, but I did not go in with a plan. The result is many photographs of animals which I have no idea why I took it, or what to do with them now.
Throwing these story-less photographs away feels like a missed opportunity to look at these animals. It also feels sad to just throw them away, as they were important enough at that moment to warrant my attention. Now, we can have a different attention fixed to them.
Maybe we can say that we captured a moment in time, that these photographs will serve as a memory of something that happened. Life is one continuous flow of water that will never stop, but we can appreciate the momentary glimpse of some pausing. Take a moment and pause, breathe, and immerse yourself in the Kruger via photographs.
I am also thinking about a more morbid and sad thing that will happen: these animals will not survive ad infinitum. These are by no means the last photographs of these animals, but in a blink of an eye, the Kruger can be transformed into cities, just like most of (South) Africa have developed into countless cities, towns, and suburbs.
For a moment, then, these photographs have a story, not one linked to me, but one they tell by merely existing: we have lived, we are currently living.
For now, happy photographing and keep well.
All of the musings and writings are my own albeit inspired by these beautiful animals. The photographs are also mine, taken with my Nikon D300 and/or Tamron 300mm lens and/or 50mm Nikkor lens.
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