STORY

This male lion I caught napping in Botswana. The light was low and the land still. He’d clearly had his fill for the day with his muscles relaxed, head pressed gently into the earth, breath steady and deep. I stayed at a distance, letting the moment unfold without intrusion. What drew me in wasn’t just the subject, but the atmosphere, the softness of the dirt under his paw, the calm that blanketed the bushveld. In black and white, the textures came alive: the grain of his mane, the shadows cast by the folds of skin, the dust clinging to his face. It’s a moment of peace that sits in contrast to his usual stature, a reminder that even the most powerful need rest.