Brittany Evins, Watch or Be Watched (ANIMAL & NATURE 2024)

Humans are often tracking the populations of animals and how they’re fairing in the natural world, whether the animals know it or not. While we’re watching them, they’re watching other animals, just like this leopard. Fighting an urge to sleep, this leopard was patiently waiting and watching a herd of gazelles in the distance while I watched it from afar. Stark colour contrasts between the leopards bright coat, the green shrubs and the dead cactus help to highlight the different textures and dimensions. The natural light on this day was very flat. Therefore, I experimented with using the angles of the cactus to create different focal points, which helped to highlight the leopards features. This is particularly evident in the photo titled ‘Angles and Droplets’, where you can see water dripping from the leopards nose. Due to the lack of light, I also experimented using the clouded sky to create negative space, to highlight the shapes of the cactus - just as the leopard took a big yawn.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.