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North American Bison

Updated: Nov 29

Today I'm sharing a new collection of photos, and I think they’re some of my best yet. It's an iconic species; one that evokes a mixture of emotions in people, from reverence & pride to loss and also hope. It's an animal symbolic of both our destructive potential and our ability to take positive action to redress balance. It's the North American Bison.

Also known as the buffalo, I've found bison compelling for as long as I can remember. Not only are they an ecologically keystone species, but they also carry significant cultural meaning; emblematic of an era, environment, and people. At the start of this year my fascination was reignited when I watched the epic 4-hour Ken Burns documentary The American Buffalo (on PBS in the US & iPlayer in the UK). I highly recommend that documentary for a more thorough story of the bison, and its place in American history and culture.


A Brief History

Bison shaped and sustained their grassland ecosystem since the Ice Age. When European settlers arrived in the early 1800s, an estimated 30-50 million bison roamed the Great Plains, from Canada in the north to Mexico in the south, the Rocky Mountains in the west and the Appalachian Mountains in the east. By the mid-1800s, a combination of government policy and consumer demand made bison hunting a profitable industry. The expansion of the railway in the late 1800s provided easy access, encouraging hunting on a mass scale. The population was decimated, with close to 1.5 million being killed annually during that time.

By the early 1900s, over-hunting left bison on the brink of extinction, with just a few hundred remaining in the wild. Conservation efforts began, including the founding of the American Bison Society, and the establishment of protected areas like Yellowstone National Park. During the mid-1900s, bison numbers slowly recovered thanks to breeding programs and newly-introduced wildlife conservation laws. By the 1990s, bison herds in national parks and private reserves grew to populations over 200,000. And in 2016 the bison was named the National Mammal of the U.S.

As of writing, the current bison population in North America is approaching 500,000, although less than 10% of those are considered to be living truly wild. Nevertheless those numbers are a testament to successful conservation and sustainable management efforts from groups such as The American Bison Society, the WWF, and the Intertribal Buffalo Council, amongst many others.


"Seeing the bison roam free once again is a testament to the power of conservation and community."

- Dan Flores, Historian


Creative Choices

From the start, I was keen for these photos to sit together well as a collection; sharing a consistent aesthetic and visual style. I made the decision early on that all of these photos would be in black & white; lending a timelessness to the images, and accentuating the grandeur of the subject. Photographically, black & white complements the high-contrast and back-lit conditions I experienced photographing them. After reviewing the images I’d taken, I later made the creative decision to crop all of the landscape-orientated photos to the same 16:9 aspect-ratio (AKA "widescreen"). This was a nod to the early Westerns and documentaries that first introduced the landscape and wildlife of the Great Plains to a wider audience, whilst also reflecting the cinematic appeal of this charismatic animal and its environment.


Photos

a large bison bull emerges from the darkeness to look at the viewer

Side-on profile photo of a north american bison head in profile

north american bison stands in silhouette in front of brightly backlist dust, in black and white

Black and white photo of north american bison walking over grassland

large male bison stares at the camera, photographed low-key in black and white

Bison photographed back-lit on grassland in summer, with insects catching the light in the air

Low-key black & white photograph of a north american bison bull, side-on in full body profile

wide-aspect photo of a north american bison bull in black & white

Silhouette of a bison walking over grassland in black & white

A bison standing just after rolling in the dust, standing in front of the now airbourne dust.

Portrait photo of a dust-bathing bison, in black & white

Low-key black and white portrait photo of a north american bison

Portrait photo of a bison walking with intent, over grassland in black & white

Low-key black & white portrait of a north american bison bull, lit from the right and in shadow on the left

A low-key black and white photo of a bison head, in profile, with grass below and trees behind

low-contrast black and white portrait of a bison head, on an off-white background, almost resembling a pencil sketch

I don't know why I'm so drawn to photographing horned creatures. Visually, I think they add a dimension to portraits. They seem to convey a 'wildness', or at least non-human quality that I like in combination with the contradictory humanising portraits I go for. But I've always been interested in bison, in particular. For me they evoke a pathos, not only for their own story, but also the native peoples with which they are inextricably intertwined. In the modern era, bison represent a positive symbol of natural heritage and resilience; embodying a strong connection to the land and an optimistic future.


Prints From This Collection

As I suggested at the start of this post, I'm exceptionally pleased with these photos, and I've chosen my favourites from this collection to add to my online print galleries, making them available to order from my website. Here is a rendering of those selected images as wall art prints. Like all my photos, they're available on Fine Art Paper, Canvas, and introduced last month; premium Metal or Acrylic.


A collection of 5 bison photos, each in black and white, and framed on a feature wall

If you enjoyed these photos, or have any questions/comments, feel free to get in touch. If this is your first time here, check out some other blog posts, and consider subscribing for future posts.


Thanks,

-

George

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