TITLE: Lucy in the Pool with Diamonds

Photographing wildlife in black and white is often counter intuitive, as a large part of the beauty of nature lies in its colours. As photographers who primarily create in B&W, we are constantly on the look out for naturally high contrast scenes with side or back lighting, dark or white animals and dark green backgrounds. This afternoon we came across a side lit hippo in a pool in the Masai Mara, surrounded by the white froth of other hippos emerging from the water. Instantly realising that under-exposing the image might result in something quite different, we made this photograph.

When we saw this image on our computer at home, it reminded us of the Beatles song, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

AUTHOR: Preeti and Prashant Chacko (India)

We are Preeti and Prashant Chacko, Indian photo artists. Together, we go by the handle “Composing the Wild”. Our work celebrates nature through the beauty of its wild animals, photographed in timeless black and white. We favour monochrome for its ability to distil emotion and to create a vision of a time past but hopefully never lost.

What inspires us is not just the visual drama of the wild, but the emotion it stirs. Over years of photography, we’ve learned that the images we cherish most are those that express beauty and emotion. Through our lens, we try to portray the grace of the wild and invite viewers to see these beings not as beasts, but as wonders worthy of awe, empathy, and protection.