A Heart For Wildlife

In the past few days I had been reflecting on my time spent in Zambia, where I came upon a story which really made me think about the cruelty man has on nature.
We have so little space left on this planet for our wildlife that it breaks my heart when I experience cruelty at this level.

Jonathan was prepared to give me his story about a female elephant which he took care of for 4 days and experienced a hard but in a way still beautiful time...

Jonathan:" At 04:33 in the morning I heard gun shots, I can't remember where I leave my phone sometimes but remember the exact time I heard those shots, something wasn't right about the shots I heard, they were not of a poacher shooting for food but shooting under distress.

After gathering up the scouts we went trekking, trekking to find the poachers and to assess the damage done. What we found infuriated me that people,(human beings) can be so cruel, but that doesn't surprise me. We found a young female elephant in her late teens or early twenties wounded by two types of weapons, a high powered rifle and a home made shot gun.

She was shot in her face, her right side of her body and the right back leg.
The shot gun was fired twice to my count to a charging elephant protecting her 2 month old baby.
Once in her face and when she turned to run away once on her side but it didn't stop there. They went on and shot her again while she was running away in the hind leg with an even deadlier weapon a high powered rifle.

She was seriously injured an injury which would have killed her slowly through weeks of pain while infection took place.The herd ran and left her behind in all the panic and distress of such a violent attack.

When we found her the logical thing to do was to shoot her but I couldn't be certain at that time of the damage, so I got online with the vet we knew and she told me that if I could fly her in she could patch up the injuries except if the elephants bone in her back leg had been smashed by the bullet, so I needed to make sure. But how do you get close to an elephant thats just been wounded, you don't except through love. I had sat with her for 2 days bringing her food and water trying to get close enough to assess the damage without stressing her out further and then the game started.

The game was called throwing sticks, she through a stick at me probably to get rid of me but it was a gentle throw not aggressive at all and when I through it back she responded by throwing it back to me, landing perfectly in my lap, I spoke to her throughout the time we spent together and got very little sleep over the next 4 days, on the fourth day magic happened she allowed me to touch her and check her leg and when I had seen the bullet had not come out the other side, I knew it was bad but then my fears were answered once she tried to step on her leg and I heard the crunch of bone.

In the end of my time with this beautiful new mother, we had to shoot her for there was nothing else we could of done for her. My heart broke at what happened, I had known this herd of elephant well, followed them for 3 moths before the incident and to me it was like loosing a friend."

Jont and his ele!

Lesotho

Lesotho, which roughly translates into the land of the people who speak Sesotho. I was finally here and was able to spend a couple of days in this gorgeous 30 000 square km country with my photography friends. A country high up in the Drakensberg mountains completely surrounded by South Africa.

Lesotho what a beautiful place on earth with incredible friendly and open people. People always fascinated me, the different facial expressions, different attitude, different views on life and that we as photographers manage sometimes to capture the reality in the human eye. It was an awesome experience to photograph in Lesotho among the community and to capture the raw truth.

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Hope

The last couple of days I spent in the Transkei with amazing people that are out there to help the poor and needy. We had the privilege to share some precious moments with little children in need. What beautiful creatures they are... I loved every second of this trip. It made me think of life.  A little girl in particular caught my attention. She was beautiful with big dark eyes, searching for love and attention, but filled with so much anger.

One of my goals as a photographer is always to capture a picture that is worth a thousands words. My aim is to produce direct, truthful and bold images that tell the stories for those who have no voice. As a documentary photographer I will have many people seeing through my eyes and expecting to see the truth.

The group I joined on that adventure are doing a really great job for pointing out the people living below the bottom line of poverty, for raising awareness about educational and child labour issues. I’m so grateful that I was able to share the experience with the team.

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Some roads aren't meant to be travelled alone.

A Movie on Awareness For A Project

The human race is about to destroy a beautiful continent. Africa's wildlife is in danger... Lots of people are sitting back, getting upset, but feeling helpless... It seems like a devils circle...
My project was about making a 2min video. I was thinking what I can chose for a social commentary. spending a view month at Lake Tanganyika in Zambia I experienced what it means when the society needs to kill wildlife for food. It is a harsh reality...
My short movie is about men who stand up for wildlife and would do anything to stop the killing... Tourism enjoy magnificent sightings during the day, but as soon as the sun disappears at the horizon the human race is out there to kill and destroy. How far will it go? will the next generation still be able to enjoy Africa as it used to be? or will the photographs and film footage be the only evidence? what can we do? i have got huge respect for people as Jonathan Colin who fight for justice and protection. Filming behind a big fence should show that our wildlife might only be safe behind bars... Is that the future we seeking for? Or who should actually be behind bars?

Life is the only game with the sole purpose of learning the rules.

To Be Independent

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Depending on something or someone doesn’t work in the real world. But how hard is it not too? The only thing you want to do is trust people, chances and circumstances.

Certain things can change in a split second. Life could be fantastic filled with good people and love. People depend too often on certain situations and they don’t believe it could change the next day. But life is full of surprises. Don’t depend on circumstances. Be independent, so you will be able to accept every challenge, which will come your way.

Depending on someone leads to disappointment. People will disappoint you... They say that they will never leave your side, but guess what when it gets tough and hard all they want to do is run. And you will stand there with only little hope left. That little hope will often be your life savior... You need to get up and walk tall. Accept that people will come and go. Live your life and make yourself happy.

It is your choice to be disappointed or free. Hope will never leave you, but also can be the biggest enemy in your daily life. Hope sometimes keeps you at certain stages in life, you not moving on because you depending on hope. Make sure you have got the strength to get up and move on. Life is short. Make the best out of it. Stop over analyzing, life is simple... Live your dream and share your passion, never let it go because of depending on a situation or someone.

Documentary Photography

One of my biggest inspirations has always been photography's ability to stop time and reveal what the naked eye cannot see. A photo can speak louder than words.

I have had an emotional roller-coaster ride with certain aspects of my life, especially since moving to South Africa from Switzerland and that is one of the reasons for my great passion for documentary photography.

Nothing brings me greater joy than photographing people for who they are. Documentary photography captures the reality, the truth and one image can change the world.

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

Photograph by Jessica Keller

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.