Artist's Statement

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Turn to Dust is a series of photographs about the African elephant, the ivory trade, and the fragility of life.

 

Through intimate encounters with wild elephants, I was drawn to their desperate plight to survive poaching for their tusks. As they dust bathed, the clouds of dirt they hurled quickly dispersed and seemingly vanished as they fell. This represented to me their fragile existence and the unjust swiftness with which their species could disappear.

 

I photographed these elephants on the Kenyan savannah and applied treatments to light, shadow, and colour: to highlight the essence of these creatures in their natural way of being, and the need to protect them before they turn to dust.

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"...earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust."