On The Road: Life On The Move In SE Asia
Trai Anfield
This exhibition is a rare example of art through compromise, and as such I am particularly fond of these photographs … and still happily married!
The last time I visited SE Asia was on honeymoon. My beloved made me promise it would be a romantic few weeks: ‘not just another photography trip’. We struck a deal: I could take a camera, but couldn’t hold us up ‘faffing around’. So I tried a more photojournalistic approach, to spontaneously capture life on the road while actually moving myself, be it by tuk tuk, boat, motorcycle, bicycle, bus or on foot.
It turned out to be one of the most joyful challenges of my photographic career. Each encounter lasted no more than a few fleeting seconds, but the immense warmth, openness, grace and generosity of spirit which shines from the people of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos will stay with me always.
A heartfelt thank you to all the unknown people who feature in this collection, and to Chris for opening my eyes to creativity through compromise.
Trai Anfield: The Trophy Room
intimate wildlife photography as a challenge to trophy hunting
"My challenge to all trophy hunters is simple: pick up a camera instead"
Trophy Room #2 (mountain gorilla, Virunga Massif, Rwanda)
“With the Trophy Room portraits I offer an alternative to the traditional 'trophy' room of pathetic stuffed dead animal heads and skins. Instead here is a room filled with vibrant, intimate and insightful images of living,
breathing individuals who continued to thrive long after our encounter. All of the impact with none of the senseless waste of a precious and beautiful life.
I'm also inviting comparison between the skills required in wildlife photography and those required for trophy hunting, and my challenge to all trophy hunters is simple: pick up a camera instead!
We use the same field craft, and experience the same adrenaline rush from proximity to the animals. But to my mind the technical and artistic aspects of photography mean that more skill and understanding is required to successfully photograph an endangered species than simply to shoot it. Photography offers a sustainable alternative to trophy hunting, and ultimately a far more satisfying experience for all involved. I'd love the chance to convince trophy hunters to reach for a camera instead of a gun"
"Merely seeing a species is rarely meaningful - what matters to me is the quality of encounter for both the photographer and the subject - that’s what stays with us both for life. I hope viewers will experience my photographs in the same way that my guests experience safari with me: it's not about careering around wild places frantically ticking species off a list, but quietly considering each animal we are privileged to encounter, gaining more understanding of its nature, behaviour and circumstance, and trying to convey something of its essence and its experience of the world."
Trai Anfield, July 2016
All images in the exhibition were taken by Trai during recce trips for her photographic safaris - to join one of Trai's photographic safaris please visit our PhotoSafaris page.
'The privilege of getting close to a magnificent animal comes with huge responsibility.
My challenge to all trophy hunters is simple: pick up a camera instead!' Trai Anfield
Limited edition prints of all Trophy Room images
are for sale through our Gallery Shop
10% of profits from the sale of each print will be donated to
Gorilla Doctors in Rwanda.
Find out more about Trai Anfield and Enlightened Media below....
Trophy Room #1 - the shot that inspired this exhibition (lion, Naboisho, Kenya)
About Trai Anfield
Trai Anfield is a natural history photographer, film maker and presenter based in North East England.
She began her working life as a Countryside Ranger, then graduated as a Met Office meteorologist, before being recruited by the BBC and spending 10 years as BBC Look North weather forecaster, environment reporter and film maker.
In 2012 she moved on to present BBC Radio 4's flagship natural history programme, The Living World, and to set up her ethically inspired production company Enlightened Media. Through Enlightened Photographic Safaris she also leads photography expeditions around the world.
Trai's ongoing concerns around climate change and species conservation are evident throughout her portfolio, and she attributes the development of her photographic style to the intimacy and involvement she seeks with each subject. The powerful dynamics of connection she creates between viewer and subject are striking, and sometimes unsettling, but each image is ultimately a celebration of the species and the individual.
Trophy Room #3 (elephant, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa)
About Enlightened Media
Enlightened Media and Enlightened Photographic Safaris support numerous charities through their Community and Conservation Commitment. The company donates or produces photography and films for organisations they support on a not for profit basis. To date in 2016 films for Lifespan, St Oswald’s Hospice and the Children’s Heart Unit Fund have helped to raise over £625,000.
Trai is currently planning two further charitable partnerships for autumn 2016: to donate an educative film to the Kwazulu Natal Black Rhino Project in South Africa, and to collaborate with Gorilla Doctors in Rwanda.
Trai is also Patron of Friends of Red Kites, Lifespan and ME North East here in the UK.
Trai Anfield: The Trophy Room wildlife photography is on exhibition at St Marys Inn
from Saturday the 16th of July to the 2nd of October 2016.
St. Mary’s Inn
St. Mary’s Lane • St. Mary’s Park • Morpeth • Northumberland • NE61 6BL
01670 293 293
hello@stmarysinn.co.uk • stmarysinn.co.uk
Limited edition prints of all Trophy Room images
are for sale through our Gallery Shop
10% of profits from the sale of each print will be donated to
Gorilla Doctors in Rwanda.