THE YOUNGSTERS

"A child's innocenxe is a limited precious luminance

never to be allowed into darkness until the radient

joy has fully enveloped its duration"

(Lopez-Espina, 2016)

It is always sad witnessing young animals get killed and the exasperating attempts by parents to prevent it from happening. Young creatures provide but a tiny window into their precarious existence. Perhaps their innocent, underdeveloped instincts are mostly at fault. They frequently don’t recognize danger nor who's friend or foe. I’ve witnessed a new born Thompson gazelle walk right up to a cheetah, and a tiny Black-backed jackal pup leave his den to smell an approaching a huge male warthog wanting that den.    These are not common occurrences since parents are usually close-by to warn or defend the young, notwithstanding, Mother Nature could be extremely cruel.    

Knowing the innocent's perilous existence, gives me a great desire to record their early years. Give me a choice to photograph anything in nature, and I will always opt to capture for joy manifested by a young creature.