Book Cover
The Elephant Round-up in Surin, was probably the most difficult shoot of the whole book. Although at the time I had no idea that one image that I shot that day would become the cover photograph, I WAS in a wheelchair, just 56 days after I had shattered my ankle, and the odds seemed stacked against me.
I had no idea what kind of pictures I could make from a wheelchair, or how the elephants would react to me, but I had always wanted to see the Surin Elephant Round-up, with it’s 300+ pachyderms playing soccer, re-enacting battles and most of all, dining at the Elephant Banquet. Besides, I knew it had to be in the book, and wouldn’t happen again for a whole year. Plus, it had been on my wife’s shoot calendar for months, so it was almost carved in stone.
We arrived early in the morning and began scouting locations. Fon patiently pushed me down sidewalks and along dirt roads scatterd with large bricks of dung, until we at last arrived backstage at the showgrounds. Luckily, the security guards were very sympathic to me and allowed us in. It was very frustrating for the first hour, and it was hot, very hot. We chased and photographed elephants and their riders as they arrived, but the backgrounds were cluttered and the elephants seemed agitated. They were after all, prepairing for their yearly time in the limelight, and nervous!
As showtime for the dressed rehearsal drew closer, I really started to think that I would not be able to make a reasonably good picture. That’s when the star elephants began strolling in. They were well trained and mannered, and looked confident. Although the show had already started, as the star elephants were changing into their costumes, with the help of the mahouts, they allowed me to make several quick images of them. Now, I had been telling my wife prior to this to get my wheelchair in close and this time she took it to heart. The elephant raised it’s trunk, she quickly pushed me almost underneath it. I squeezed off six shots on the way in and as calmly as I could, asked her to, “PULL ME BACK!” The third one is on the cover of the book.
Just Moments Before the Cover Photo was Taken.
The Elephant Banquet, held on the next day, was somewhat chaotic. The main street was lined with long tables covered with fruit and vegetables. The elephants were gathered at the center of town for a ceremony, then the mahouts rode them down the street and allowed them to gorge on their fruit or vegetable of choice. It was interesting how some would like a certain fruit or vegetable only, and not even pause if there were none of their favorites on the table. Observing that most of them favored corn, I tried to hide some on my lap to coax the most handsome ones, which later proved to be a bad idea. Still, an adventure and a book cover shoot that I’ll never forget.
Working at the Elephant Banquet
