James Lewin, Drawn Swords, 2023

18 x 33.25 in - Ed of 8
28 x 51.75 in - Ed of 8

In Drawn Swords (2023), James Lewin captures a moment of both confrontation and communion between two rhinoceroses — a scene that balances the primal tension of nature with the quiet dignity of survival. Set against a vast, cloud-strewn African sky, the photograph stages an encounter that feels timeless, almost mythological: two giants of the savannah facing one another like ancient warriors, their horns poised in a delicate, sculptural symmetry.

Lewin’s use of black and white transforms the composition into something elemental. The removal of color distills the image to its essence — form, light, and shadow — evoking the grandeur of classical sculpture. The tonal range emphasizes the contrast between the rough textures of skin and the softness of sky, while the mirrored stance of the animals creates a near-perfect equilibrium. This balance gives the photograph its title resonance: strength not as aggression, but as poise; weapons not as violence, but as symbols of identity and endurance.

The image also carries profound emotional and ecological weight. In an era when rhino populations face relentless poaching and habitat loss, Lewin’s portrait becomes an act of witness — documenting both beauty and precarity. These animals, monumental and stoic, stand not merely as subjects of art but as emblems of resistance. Their horns, which have made them targets, become in Lewin’s hands symbols of defiance and grace.

Compositionally, Drawn Swords speaks to Lewin’s hallmark style: a fusion of aesthetic precision and ethical purpose. His perspective is low, aligning the viewer’s gaze with the horizon, making the encounter feel immediate and reverent. The negative space — that vast, breathing sky — expands the narrative beyond the animals themselves, situating them within the rhythm of nature’s eternal cycles.

In Drawn Swords, confrontation becomes communion, and power finds peace in symmetry. The photograph is at once majestic and mournful, a meditation on strength, survival, and the fragile poetry of existence. Through Lewin’s lens, the rhinos become more than animals — they are guardians of an ancient lineage, dignified and defiant, standing in quiet solidarity beneath the endless sky.