A packed auditorium greeted Frans Lanting, the ace wild-life and conservation photographer on Friday evening at XPOSURE 2019, the region’s leading international photo festival whose fourth edition is currently underway at Expo Centre Sharjah.

 

Lanting, who works for the National Geographic and is hailed as one of the greatest nature photographers of the world, addressed the audience in a session titled Eye to Eye with Life. 

 

The audience watched and listened in awe as Lanting narrated the inspirations and experiences that shaped his work and stories in different parts of the world spanning the Amazon basin, Africa, and the Antarctic. Also a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), Lanting is known for his inspiring work that connects the wild-life to people. 

 

Talking about his journey as a photographer, Lanting said, “I started with thinking to connect with animals from their point of view. That connection and the feeling of being with them has shaped my photography and my outlook of them ever since.”

 

“For me, animals became the ambassadors of ecosystems as I began to explore their lives and started working closely with conservation biologists. This was a new step in my photography journey,” he added. 

 

During the session, Lanting shared the tricks and tips that helped him click some of the most stunning pictures in the wild, across the world. 

 

Sharing one of his experiences while photographing elephants in Africa, he said, “I am up till waist in muddy water for this photograph as that was the only way to capture the shadows. There were elephants in front of me, around me, and even behind me. However, being so close to the animals doesn’t work all the times, because some of the animals that I would like to work with were too shy and I had to use all kinds of other methods to create intimate views.”

 

The session provided insights into his unique approach to visualising ideas about the natural world and included a mesmerising interpretation of the life symphony – explaining the formation and evolution of planet earth.

 

“I became a time-traveller with my camera – searching for opportunities to visualise what the earth looked like when it was born; when it was molten lava without a surface. It took us years to take perfect pictures and turn them into something that can be shared with people,” he explained. 

 

Lanting’s was one of the most well-attended sessions on the second day of XPOSURE 2019, which is hosting 39 solo exhibitions, along with 47 indoor and 5 outdoor exhibitions in Sharjah and Dubai.