Portrait of Elephants
By Oliver Klink



Imagine being there, in that moment, with that particular creature and the landscape merging into one exquisite whole. The animals are the subject, their natural world the frame.

I approach my subject as a painter with a camera instead of a brush; as a writer, to describe an unspoken feeling; as an artist to create a “dream scene” with poetry and beauty.

Portraits of Elephants is about capturing their soul, revealing their personality. The images are showing the animals in a state of Being. They are looking out at the world, perhaps scouting for predators, perhaps enjoying the view. They are conscious beings, capable of suffering or enjoying their lives in a fragile ecosystem.

When I am in a wilderness area, and especially if I am by myself, I so often experience a sense of awe at the beauty of creation, the sacredness of life. There is a division between myself and the subject, and yet I wish deeply that somehow there wouldn’t be. But I know, as we all must, that it is this division that has wreaked so much terror in the world of wildlife and the elephants.

Their world is vanishing. How tragic would it be if future generations gazed at the heart-breaking beauty of these portraits knowing that they would never see the animals in the wild.

“I have great respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are only a part. When I look through the lens, I wait for the moment that the subject shows the connection to all existence. This isn't a picture of an elephant, it's a portrait of a elephant” says Oliver Klink.

You are about to enter a world of the imagination, where all the animals are real, fragile, and full of grace.

Contact info: 408-910-6701
oliver@oliverklinkphotography.com