A few years ago my mother and I went to the Big Cat Rescue outside of Tampa. It is amazing! I highly recommend that people visit and support this organization. And what these people do to rescue and provide to these amazing cats is so selfless and wonderful.
This image is profound to me in many ways. Well, beside it being a gorgeous Tiger named China Doll
I feel sad looking at it sometimes. Sad that this gorgeous Tiger was removed from her home and went through who knows what to have to be ‘rescued’. It comes down to this – how selfish and entitled people feel. It is still surprising to me to come across people like this. I mean this is the extreme act of selfishness – capturing a Tiger and feeling entitled to do what he/she wants to……. But, it’s sad that there are MANY people out there that are just like them. Selfish and entitled. Who think of themselves above all else. Imagine what life would be if everyone was NOT like that…. But, so far it’s an unrealistic dream of mine.
This photo as I said was photographed a few years ago. It’s one of my all time favorite photographs I have ever taken. I remember that it was so early in the morning. The sun was just rising. And then China Doll lifted her head to let the sun fall on her face. Just a WOW moment for a photographer. The feeling of capturing that moment is indescribable. I treasure this image. I treasure it for the photograph itself; for being lucky enough to be at that moment in time to capture it; AND for it to remind me not to be selfish or feel entitled about anything.
For this image I shot film! Yes, film! I shot that day with a B/W slide film. This is a work in progress…. Only in B/W or versions etc… So, I am going to keep working on the image – maybe in the course of this mini-project I will find that the image needs no further ‘working’. We’ll see!
Would love to have thoughts about the image – as a work in progress. As I keep working the image as artists say I will keep posting the different versions. I really want to have honest opinions on which particular version you love the most and why.
Without further ado – meet the Tigress China Doll.
Edited to add: A side note: When I posted this image I then heard about the Tiger summit in Russia. I encourage you all to read this article on the 2010 Summit to save the endangered tigers held in St. Petersburg, Russia. There are many more articles on the web to learn about the summit.
It’s so incredibly hard to think that on 2 to 3 years the less than 3,000 tigers in the wild will be gone.
In all honesty I wish there were something I could do to help. Their near extinction in the wild breaks my heart and soul.
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