Hippodrama

Maasai Mara Kenya 2014
An edition of 25 in all sizes

Hippodrama represents my take on what I regard as a difficult subject to photograph well, hippopotamuses. To photograph them well, you ideally need to be on the same level as them, not too far away, for them to do something interesting enough for the picture, and to be safe at the same time. Then one morning, all four requirements came into play at once. So all that remained was to get the picture.

These two hippopotamuses were playing, or maybe play fighting. The moved around the pool among their pod baring their mouths at each other in a kind of mock dominance display. If only they would continue this display away from their pod so that I could secure this picture. It goes without saying, by looking at this picture, they eventually did.

This picture is available in black and white after some years of existing in only in a colour form. I had sought to make a black and white treatment of it shortly after taking it, but I was not satisfied with he results. More recently I made a second approach, incorporating a little more contrast together with some warm-cool split toning. I feel it is now at least equal to the colour in terms of my own personal satisfaction hence its release here for the first time. (The colour, I will be good to make available at a future date.)