India Journal - Entry 15 - He Who Walks With Tigers

Not done yet...saving the best for last. I'm excited I finally get to upload it.

This is perhaps one of the most beautiful and profound photographs I've ever taken.

I was in a jeep in Corbett National Park, India and I spotted some pugmarks in the dirt as we were driving by. I had the driver stop and back up to get a closer look. They were from a female and were fairly recent. The driver got out of the jeep to examine them more closely.

Now...there has been a photo I've wanted to create for some time, but have not had a good opportunity; being in tiger country afforded me a couple chances to capture this image from my dreams, but park rules state that tourists aren't allow to exit the vehicles, which was crucial if I was to get the photo. I motioned to the driver that I wanted to get out of the jeep and he didn't seem to care. I jumped out of the jeep with camera in hand and my heart was racing (a combination of excitement and nervousness as there could have been a tiger close by). I ran up to the pugmark and did something that would leave the driver momentarily confused - I removed my shoe and my sock from my left foot. I judged the best place to make my move and then stepped firmly into the dirt beside the pugmark. I lifted my foot and beamed at the result...

There it was...our footprints in the dirt side-by-side, illuminated by a beam of morning sunlight which had found its way past the mountains and trees, sticks and leaves. It was an image that made my heart sing - I finally had an image that could speak to my relationship with tigers and the natural world.

Years ago, I chose my email "HeWhoWalksWithTigers" based on the idea that the fate of the tiger and of myself are inextricably linked, just as all things in the natural world are linked in deep, interdependent relationships. It has become a metaphor to describe the path in life I chose to take and in this image, it has taken physical form in a simple, but meaningful symbol...one I've wanted to depict for a long time. There is also a greater context I wanted to communicate. Without the tiger, in ancient cultures considered the guardian of the forest, the forest system begins to break down. The presence of tigers have been linked to the preservation of bamboo, fuel wood, timber, honey, medicine and other products that directly or indirectly help thousands of people earn a living. This is in addition to ecological services such as protection of topsoil and the retention of groundwater. If we cannot save the tiger, how can we save ourselves?

We breathe the same air and drink the same water - all the efforts we have made to distinguish ourselves from creatures like tigers have betrayed this fundamental truth: humans and wildlife all walk the same path, rely on the same natural world, on the same earth. Our fates are shared.

The photograph is not going to win any sort of awards for photography, but it is deeply meaningful to me. I was extremely lucky too...this was the last pugmark I saw in India. It is the best souvenir I could get. I don't think I'll ever be able to take a photo quite like this one.

I will probably never know the tigress that left this pugmark, but I hold hope she is still out there surviving. I may not be in Corbett right now, but I walk with her...her and all tigers, leaving pugmarks in the sands of time.