This photo is from a photographer from New Zealand called Amos Chapple. I tried to describe why I like Amos’ work but couldn’t quite get the right words. I found a quote from journalist Jeremy Olds in a stuff.co.nz article about Amos, “What sets Chapple apart is he's willing to travel to places others won't venture – places too remote, or too dangerous. It means he's capturing scenes that often haven't been photographed before and are, by virtue of their unfamiliarity, intriguing.” Intriguing, different and beautiful. Those are the three words I would use to describe his work.
I chose this image of Amos’ to post as it is not only a beautiful shot of part of a river in the Yakutian Region in Far East Russia, but because there is a whole story that goes along with it and details of what happens in parts of this beautiful region that is captured in this image. “Tuskers”, men who come from all over and illegally ravage the land in the hopes of finding Woolly Mammoth tusks that have been preserved in the permafrost, and making a profitable amount if they are lucky enough to find tusks to sell.
Unfortunately the damage that tusk hunting is having on the landscape and waterways around this region is terrible and is only going to get worse as the demand for tusks grows, along with the prices people are willing to pay for the tusks and ultimately as more hunters arrive in the region.
The thing I admire about Amos and his photography is the fact that he endeavours on adventures that can potentially put him in danger but he is not only able to capture amazing photographs but a story to accompany them also.
One day, I too, would like to head to the lesser travelled regions of the world and capture images that aren’t as easily accessible as most!
image link & article: https://www.rferl.org/a/the-mammoth-pirates/27939865.html
stuff.co.nz article: http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/80886582/The-amazing-world-of-Kiwi-photojournalist-Amos-Chapple
