View from the Heart

Elephants and baobabs are Africa’s animal and plant kingdom iconic heavyweights. Their age-old relationship is visibly affected by climate change. While baobabs and elephants evolved together and baobabs survive occasional elephant damage, climate change brought prolonged droughts across Africa with injuries suffered by the trees are more severe and deadlier than ever.

The Photographer sought to capture the elephants praying on baobabs from inside a baobab. This image is especially powerful as the hole caused by the elephant in the baobab has the shape of a heart, framed by the patterns sculpted in wood by the elephants’ tusks and trunks.

This World Photography Day we invite you to consider the view from your heart and capture moments as you pay attention to the world around you and appreciate the natural gifts that surround us.

This award-winning photograph was shortlisted in the Planet Category of the COP28 Photography Competition, a collaboration between The Climate Tribe and the Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Rashid al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA). The Climate Tribe has partnered with HIPA to leverage the power of photography to inspire global awareness of sustainability and advance climate action.