We crouched, Sangito standing tall and calm and watchful behind us , a haunch of kudu in one hand and a rusted panga in the other. Then from its den, scrapped deep in the centre of the Boma, the wilddog approached. It slipped towards us, lithe, wary and perfect In just about every way. Interacting with such an intelligent pack predator demands we deploy all our senses and pay attention. Top of that list of senses is smell. wilddog announce their presence long before you see them and even before you hear their whirring, guttural barks. It is meaty, feral waft; wildness bottled, condensed. It is a smell high in amonia, faeces and the dried bloody musk of the dead. That smell shouted ‘dog’ to us and as we crossed that invisible olfactory boundary we did so willingly. Theirs is a boundary defined by a suspicious brand of trust. A contract we abided by, to never touch or in anyway aspire to control. Ours was a mission to simply share space and to draw.
WildDog looking up
WildDog looking up
Mkomazi , tanzania. £550
Size: 16x20 inch
Edition of 25 signed prints.
photographic / matt
35 mm