Alaska 2016

 

This powerful portrait of a huge coastal brown bear in Funnel Creek, Katmai
National Park, Alaska works because of the eye to eye face off. My eye is level
or indeed marginally lower than his and that required getting very wet. There
are few dry days in the field in Alaska and this was not one of them.
Over and above our matching line of vision, the simplicity of the image is
helped by the absence of distractions – there is clearly nothing in the print that
is not part of the bear itself. A corner of distant tundra or sky would disturb the
sense of the complete and create an eye grabbing tension point. This effect is
only really possible with a “head on” perspective and it shows the vastness of
adult bears. This bear probably weighed 950 pounds – five times that of an

average man.
Encounters like this tend to be singular moments – with no other photographers
nearby. In the salmon run seasons, great precision is required to know where
the salmon are running on any particular week – with that comes clues as to
where to find the bears. The greater the number of salmon in the river, the less
a bear will worry about human presence; my trespass – once acknowledged –
was accepted and life carried on. This bear was simply being a bear – he posed
no threat.

 

Digital Pigment Print on Archival
315gsm Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta Paper
Frame included
Hand signed and numbered on the front by the artist
Includes a Certificate of Authenticity

 

Available Sizes (Framed Size)
Large: 63″ x 67″ (160 cm x 170 cm)
Standard: 47″ x 50″ (119 cm x 127 cm)

Available Editions
Large: Edition of 12
Standard: Edition of 12