Black and White Wildlife Portraits by Laurent Baheux
Laurent Baheux is a french photographer, born in Poitiers in 1970. Attracted to journalism and editing at first, he rapidly discovered a passion for photography and becoming a self-taught photographer.
Laurent Baheux
From 2002, during a visit to Tanzania, he began private work on the wild fauna, its beauty, strength, roughness and great fragility. He chose black and white, with its play on shadow, light and contrast, to immortalise rare and ephemeral scenes of nature, constantly trying to sublimate the animals, to capture the magnificence of their attitudes, the emotion of their look… Through this authentic quest, Laurent wants to show the vividness of these species which are still alive, but more menaced than ever, and the immense richness that they represent for the planet.
“Black and white allows me to better capture the magnificence of the animals’ attitudes, the emotion of their looks, and the vividness of these species which are still alive, but more menaced than ever, and the immense richness that they represent for the planet.” Laurent Baheux.
Through this authentic quest, Laurent wants to show the vividness of these species which are still alive, but more menaced than ever, and the immense richness that they represent for the planet. In 2013, he was appointed Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for the WILD & PRECIOUS exhibition organized in collaboration with GoodPlanet for the 40 years of the International Convention on the species to extinction.
Laurent’s personal slogan marks the vision about wildlife photography: Inspired by nature since 1970.
In the following selection, we find impressive wildlife images captured by Laurent Baheux. The deep black and white images showcase the innocence and vulnerability of the endangered species from the fragile African fauna. Their character traits revealed by their majesty and intensity of their looks, are deliberately stressed. Sensitive to beauty and awe of their power, I like to confront them in the same visual paradox in their innocence and their vulnerability. African wildlife, full of contrasts between light and shadow, is presented in what is most human, individual sense: If my images help to remember that every animal is an individual in its own right, then I will consider my work serves the animal cause.
Laurent Baheux. The Pictures
Lion in the grass, Kenya, 2013
Lion in the wind - Serengeti - Tanzania 2007
Cheetah portrait 2 - Tanzania 2007
Lioness - Lionne, Kenya, 2006
Lioness, Masai Mara, Kenya, 2006
Zebra with friends - Masaï Mara - Kenya 2014
Two lioness and a cub, Kenya, 2013
Lioness and its cub, Masai Mara, Kenya, 2006
Lioness and her cub, Masai Mara, Kenya, 2006
Baby elephant, Kenya 2013
BLACK AND WHITE #WILDLIFE #PORTRAITS BY LAURENT BAHEUX http://t.co/ThTh42ys7I #BW #photography Thanks @laurentbaheux pic.twitter.com/JtyYpuNvm9
— Photography Office (@photoffice) February 19, 2015Africa. The book
The untameable beauty of a powerful and vulnerable natural environment is presented in this book curated by YellowKorner. The book, at it’s second edition features over 150 photos taken by Laurent Baheux during his many years of reporting. Sculpted by the luminous magic of black and white, each picture offers a poignant facet of this fragile and fascinating continent.
David Yarrow is an incredible fine-art photographer, financier, conservationist and author, based in Britain. He is currently one of the bestselling fine-art photographers in the world.