Lion Under Tree, 2008 - Nick Brandt

Though photographer Nick Brandt grew up in London and resides in southern California, he travels each year to East Africa for three months to photograph the region's animals and wildlife. Trained in film, Brandt initially moved to the United States to direct music videos. While in Tanzania directing the video for Michael Jackson's Earth Song in 1995, Brandt discovered his passion for the animals of East Africa and turned to still photography as his medium.

In 2000, Brandt began working on a trilogy of photography books intended to capture both the splendor of East Africa and the threats posed to its wildlife. The first book, On This Earth, was published in 2005 and the second, A Shadow Falls, in 2009. Brandt shoots with black-and-white film and a medium-format camera. He does not use telephoto or zoom lenses, but rather captures the animals from close distances to better capture their personalities. Brandt has said, "I'm waiting for the moment where the animal seems like they're posing or where they've set themselves in a landscape like an Edward Curtis."

In 2011, Brandt's work was the subject of a solo show at the Fotografiska Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2010, Brandt founded the Big Life Foundation, which works to save the animals of East Africa from poachers.
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