The Jungle Book Stories, Ranthambore National Park, India

2013
Archival Pigment Photograph
71
x
71
in

Signed, dated, and numbered from edition of 20 on recto. Signed, titled, dated, and editioned on certificate of authenticity.

There are only about 1,700 Royal Bengal Tigers left in India – a frightening decline from the estimated 100,000 during the Raj. Therefore, to find a father and son bathing in the same pool in the jungle was statistically unlikely. Photographers cannot direct wild tigers and thus the positioning of the animals relative to the surroundings or each other is matter of luck. Overtime, luck will average out, but the placement of the adult tiger’s left ear covering his son’s right eye enhances a picture which evokes jungle book stories. I like the lone eye to the right – even though it’s outside my focal plane, it ironically grabs our focused eyes. – David Yarrow