Ashes and Snow

Ashes and Snow is an art exhibition by the photographer Gregory Colbert. Colbert is my all time favorite photographer for many reasons. In 2005, my parents took me to see his traveling art exhibit in New York City. I instantly fell in love with the way he represented an extraordinary harmony between human and animal. He began working on this exhibition in 2002. The  photographs have been taken from all around the world in places like India, Egypt, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and tons of other locations. He photographs animals that I could only dream of being in the presence of. Some of the animals he uses in this particular collection are whales, leopards, elephants, orangoutangs, eagles, and more. As you can see from the two photos i posted, Colbert catches extremely rare moments of intense connections between humans and animals. He has an amazing ability to capture passionate photo's, that at the same time give you an overwhelming feeling of sensitivity. In the first picture, it looks like the child is reading, as the elephant listens. It seems as if somehow, the elephant can understand the boy, and waits in anticipation to hear the rest of the reading. In the second photo, the elephant is touching the ceramic pot with his truck, so gently that the pot is barely tipped to one side. I love how one boy is in focus, but the others behind seem as if they are fading out into the dust. In both photographs, you can sense a connection between the boy and the animal. To me, that is what makes his work so amazing.