ENTRY DESCRIPTION
South Africa, March 2019

Black Panther - a myth? Often called the noblest of all big cats and rightly so. In the wild, there are said to be less than ten (!) panthers on the African continent. The cause? Fur trade and hunting.
Kevin Richardson - known as "The Lion Whisperer" - runs a sanctuary for lions and black leopards near Pretoria, South Africa. Because the lion population has dropped from 350,000 to 20,000 individuals in the last 20 years, Kevin struggles to raise public awareness and bring attention to the need for protecting African animals. In 2018, Kevin established the "Kevin Richardson Foundation," a nonprofit organization with lions at its heart.
It is a privilege to work with Kevin. His knowledge of the animals and his special way of communicating with them is unique. There are only a handful of photographers that Kevin invites to join him because he respects their work - I am honored to be one of them.
My portrait of a black panther was meant to capture all the power, determination and of course elegance of this rare big cat. It is truly the supreme discipline to photograph a running leopard, for no other animal I have seen is faster in all its movements. Never resting, always alert and restlessly searching with its hunting eyes. My self-imposed challenge often causes me to fail - I want to portray every animal in direct eye contact. But when it works out ...

AUTHOR
Born in Germany in 1973. I discovered his love for black-and-white photography in the age of 15. After graduating from high school I worked for four years as a photography assistant followed by studying photography as a student of Prof. Gottfried Jäger and Prof. Gerd Fleischmann.

I work as a fashion photographer and, from 2003, run my own design office based in Oelde/Westphalia. Since 2013, I have been working on various freelance projects, always in black and white, alongside my commissioned work. In 2017, I opened my first gallery in a Bauhaus pavilion made of wood and glass built for the purpose.

Fascinated by a first trip to Africa it is not surprising that wildlife photography has captivated me the most. The closeness to wild animals, the tranquillity of untouched nature and the people in these environments never cease to fascinate me – I travel into the wilderness as often as I can, capturing unique moments in black and white. In 2018, this work become my new trademark after I hung up fashion photography completely.

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