"Somewhere in Africa, on a windswept rock, the lion in its kingdom fascinates and inspires me. Even when I was a child, as far back as I can remember, it inhabited my dreams. Through my career as a photographer, I have had the opportunity to see it move about its territory, free and wild, among its kind. This has allowed me to realise both the extraordinary power of the wilderness and the extreme vulnerability of its balance."
French photographer Laurent Baheux has come out with a new book, titled 'Lions', dedicated to the “King of the Animals”.
He has journeyed across Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana to capture the wild lion living freely in its natural habitat for the last 20 years.
With kind permission from his publisher teNeues, here are some of the breathtaking images from the book.
You can buy the HERE
When the lion roars! Baheux’s stunning black-and-white lion photographs show this feline animal with the precision and texture of a studio portrait — its many different movements, postures, behaviours, and expressions captured with startling intimacy.
Windswept: All the pictures in the book show wild lions living freely in their natural habitat in Africa. The photographs were taken from a distance by Baheux working alone, his eyes glued to the camera and its viewfinder. So as not to interfere with the daily existence of his subjects, Laurent Baheux works without an assistant, without remote controls, without photographic traps, drones, or robots.
Emerging from the grass: The images were taken between March 2002 and June 2019, over the course of about thirty trips to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana, each trip lasting between two weeks and two months.
Time with the pack: Playing among the pride, out hunting its prey, or eyeing us directly from the page, Baheux’s lion photography is as much a tribute to the lion’s character, power, and feeling as it is a haunting reminder that this most impressive of animals is also among the most endangered wildlife on earth.
King of the kings: When asked about why he chose lions to be the subject of his book, he said, "This book brings together selections from work I have done over many years on this icon of the animal kingdom: an animal I do not tire of immortalising, and to which I wish to pay the exclusive tribute it deserves."
Thinking of its future?Baheux says that one cannot talk about Africa without thinking of the lion. The king of animals is the maestro of the wilderness.
A lil bit of TLC... The lion population in Africa has been halved over the last twenty-five years; over the last hundred years it has diminished by a factor of ten. A hundred years ago, there were 200,000 lions. Today, there are only 20,000 left, and they are considered vulnerable to extinction.
Cub at play: A little cub plays on while the lion gorges on some food he hunted down a while back.
Baheux captures the lion in all its intricate facets and the result is a sensitive and intimate photo portrait: at once powerful, fragile, and tender.
Grab a copy of the book soon and enjoy Baheux's amazing photographs of the most majestic animal.
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