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Iconic Elephant Photo


africapurohit

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africapurohit

Here is a link to a photo that was taken by Peter Beard in 1976 at the Tsavo/Mkomazi border (ignore caption under the photo, as the information is incorrect).

 

It is also included in Peter Beard's fantastic book "The End of the Game: The Last Word from Paradise".

 

I'm sure you will enjoy it, even if you have seen it before.

 

http://elephantopia.org/tag/peter-beard/

 

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Fantastic picture AP. However my copy of Beard's End of the Game is from the early 1960s with most of the pictures even earlier dated than that. Was this mid 70s image added in a later edition of the book.? Despite his being a highly controversial playboy type character I have found Peter Beards photographs to be exceptional and own several of his books. End of the Game is a definite classic

Edited by AKR1
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Peter B also has a small Italian connection. As you may know, the tire manufacturer Pirelli has for many years put out a strictly limited edition wall calendar for clients that is evidently quite popular. Well in 2009 they commissioned Peter Beard to shoot the calendar with an African safari theme. He shot it with models and elephants in Botswana and some of the pictures are quite exotic!

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I've got that book. But to be honest I see through it.

 

You see; it's full of fantastic images of big herds, and after that full of heart stopping images of mass slaughters. Obviously, people revolt when seeing the pics, and people who do not have any background on Africa certainly swallow the message that Mr. Beard prepared for them. Which is basically; "this is what hunting was protecting and this is what happened when hunting was pushed out".

 

The truth is of course far more complex than that.

 

- By now we know that a lot of the slaughtering was because the government failed to give huge tracts of land another viable (and eco-related) destination.

- By now we know this wouldn't have happened if the local people really would have benefited from hunting (cfr André who was honest enough to admit not one Rand of his money ever went to a community - it's like that all over Africa).

- By now we know that part of this is a natural (and alas so far unstoppable) trend of homo sapiens claiming ever more space simply because of their numbers.

- By now we know that Beards' message was, at least in part, a butthurt reaction for losing his hunting playgrounds (sorry about my French).

- And let's face it; by now we know that "sustainable hunting" is the biggest lie ever. So the hunters were (and are) having the same effect on wild populations as what has happened there in Kenya, only at a slower rate.

 

And so on... there's more reasons, and it's even much more complex as what I wrote above. I haven't even touched the subject of tribal disputes.

 

My 2c, of course.

 

J.

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....  I simplify things. Indeed he had not lost his playground completely.

 

I did not mean to make sweeping statements, and it's not about knowledge. But for readability I can only point out a number of things, and I have to keep my points short. As I said myself; the situation is much more complex than that. And that is actually the crux; the situation was much more complex than the simple message Mr. Beard tried to pass across.

 

You know, if everyone's posts would be scrutinized and judged to be "not 100% complete", or "sweeping statements" or whatever ...then this board would contain exactly zero messages. ;) It's not exact science. So it's not about having absolutely complete confidence in what you say. It's just statements going back and forth, each statement being someone who tries to get a message or conclusion across. If you do not agree with some points I say, I'm happy to discuss them with you. ;)

 

Ciao,

 

J.

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africapurohit

@@AKR1 I have the 4th edition which was published in 1988. As .... says, the photo is printed across two pages.

 

There's a unique print of this photo being auctioned at nearly $50,000 :o : http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/photographs/peter-beard-mkomazi-elephant-herd-from-5670454-details.aspx

 

I bought a used but pristine copy of the book for £23.70 from Amazon :) - I think the 4th edition was last reprinted in 2000.

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@@africapurohit

 

I have the original 1965 edition of The End of the Game, but just browsed through some of Peter Beard's diaries (Taschen reproductions) I had acquired several years ago, and found the double page image of the hundreds of elephants you had posted above. Also, literally scores of other extraordinary & unique photographs of an era that has sadly passed.

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Mine is from 2008, with a foreword of Paul Theroux.

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