Safari Photos Elephants Opinions

Hi all,

Something that I noticed when looking at B&W photos taken of some of the legends in the safari industry was the different poses that were used - especially those with the hunters sitting on top of their elephants... I know that some find these poses disrespectful towards the animals...

With this in mind - I would love to hear your opinions on the photo below... Is it distasteful / disrespectful?



Here's another picture...



As a matter of interest - the lady in the picture is not a hunter... In fact, elephants are here favourite animals and she only agreed to pose with the elephant after she had given it its "last meal" - a German tradition (hence the Mopani branch in the ele's mouth.

I personally dont find it disrespecfull, but would if the hunter posed with his foot on the animals head

I give all the animals i shoot there last meal, have done since i started hunting when i was 10

Our mentality about hunting and respect for animals is very different than it was 100 years ago. In those days, taking a large game animal was seen as a triumph of man over beast. (For some insight, read "African Game Trails" by T. Roosevelt.)

I don't find the old photos or recent photos distasteful. I just would not do it myself. Hunting for me is about the experience, challenge and camaraderie, not the conquest.

Ditto what flash said about the foot on the head tho'

- browningbbr

I don't find the above pictures distasteful.

Most things in life come from your experiences in life and beliefs you hold dear to you.....I think elephant and hunter pictures are hard to pose in the first place.

Chris, allow me to disagre. I do not like photos like the first one at all, the second one is little better.
IMO, the below photo is about as far as I would go with sitting on the elephant:

Too much "conquering hero" for me and a little disrespectful. After mine was down i really struggled with a good pose. Elephant are hard to photograph because they look like a lump of grey and the trunk and mouth do not look good on the ground. Even more difficult are tuskless. Either way sitting on top doesnt work for me.

Overall I believe it is disrespectful. I am surprised that someone that provides the Letzter Bissen sits on the animal. At some point they were taught to respect their prey.

After attending a German hunting course it provided me a new insight to hunting and conservation.

i am sure with today's digital cameras many pictures were taken and were not used..

That being said the weeded out pictures should have never been sent or down loaded for some one to use.

That said i did not care for either of the 2 posted pictures.

I don't think it is appropriate to sit on an animal, if it is a steenbok or an elephant. There is no difference. It sends out a wrong message. With modern cameras you can take any picture from any angle and it will show the elephant and the hunter.

First off congrats to the folks in the photos for taking some fine animals. I have no problem with any of the photos posted. Take photos of the animals that you harvest in a way that will make you happy and bring back those memories in the future when you look at them.

Thank you for the feedback.

Whilst I don't see anything wrong with the pictures (I am biased of course) I do respect others' opinions - which is the reason for asking. Based on the replies over here it appears many do not share my opinion... which is good because we are all different and entitled to our opinions.

Maybe the pictures could be seen as "conquering hero" by some but I guess when you've spent 8 days and many miles on the tracks of elephant you may well feel like you have achieved something to be proud of when you finally get up close and make a clean kill...

FWIW I also do not like photos of hunters with their feet on the heads of the animals they've killed - nor do I like the pictures with hunters sitting spreadeagled over their animals holding the horns up with a cigarete dangling from their lips.

Karl, that's a beautiful bull BTW!

Regards,

Chris

I personally do not find either photo disrespectful. However, the definition of "distasteful" is open to a wide range of interpretations and I can see how someone may not appreciate those photos.

I think it's mostly about culture. Most Americans don't have any massive problem with having their picture taken when sitting on an animal and some don't even have a problem with a foot on the animal but as a rule of thumb, most Europeans would consider it extremely bad taste.

Note I said most rather than all.