Old bull elephants are the repositories of knowledge in elephant society. They know where the water is in a dry year, which routes connect the pans, where the best feeding is in each season. This knowledge is not instinct — it is accumulated experience, passed on through behaviour and observation over decades. When an old bull leads, the younger animals follow, and the herd survives things it would not survive without him. This bull had already drunk when the image was made — standing in the foreground of the waterhole at Nxai Pan, investigating the photographer lying flat on the ground with a wide-angle lens. The high-key treatment lifts the tones and gives the image its particular quality of light: overexposed, luminous, the detail in the skin rendered in a way that a standard exposure would not achieve. Print Details Printed on museum-grade fine art paper using archival pigment inks with a 100+ year lifespan Generous white border for easy framing Limited edition — signed, numbered and accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity Shipped unframed in protective, eco-friendly packaging Carbon-neutral printing and packaging 10% of every sale supports Botswana Predator Conservation and African wildlife conservation Available Sizes Small: 12" x 8" | 305 x 203mm | Editions of 25 Medium: 24" x 16" | 609 x 406mm | Editions of 15 Large: 36" x 24" | 914 x 609mm | Editions of 10 X-Large: 60" x 40" | 1524 x 1016mm | Editions of 5 About This Image Location: Nxai Pan National Park, Botswana Photographer: Devon Jenkin A group of bull elephants came to drink at midday in the Nxai Pan heat. The oldest bull had already finished drinking and stood in the foreground, investigating the photographer lying flat on the ground with a wide-angle lens. The high-key treatment — deliberate overexposure — gives the image its luminous quality and reveals the texture of the skin in detail that a standard exposure would lose. Old bulls carry knowledge that younger elephants depend on. This one looked like he knew it.
