James Lewin, The Land That Made Us One, 2025

In The Land That Made Us One (2025), James Lewin delivers a powerful visual testament to unity, heritage, and reverence for the natural world. The photograph depicts a magnificent elephant standing beside a family of Maasai elders and a child at a small watering hole, their presence framed by the vast African landscape and a sky heavy with stormlight. The monumental tusks of the elephant curve toward the earth like ancient sculptures, symbols of endurance and wisdom, while the Maasai stand grounded, poised, and dignified — guardians of a shared homeland.

Lewin’s black-and-white composition imbues the scene with a timeless stillness, allowing form, gesture, and emotion to take precedence over color. The elephant’s textured hide echoes the rugged landscape, while the intricate beadwork and ceremonial adornments of the Maasai introduce a delicate human craftsmanship that harmonizes with nature’s grandeur. The mirrored reflections in the water’s surface create a quiet symmetry, a visual metaphor for the interconnectedness of life across species and generations.

What makes this image extraordinary is its balance of humility and majesty. There is no hierarchy here — no dominance of human over animal, nor beast over man. Instead, Lewin captures coexistence as an ancient pact, a mutual respect born from centuries of living side by side. The title, The Land That Made Us One, underscores this philosophy: the land itself is the unifying force, shaping both creature and culture, binding them in the same breath of survival and belonging.

Through his lens, Lewin transforms a simple encounter into a sacred tableau — an ode to continuity and stewardship. The Land That Made Us One stands as one of his most moving works, a portrait of Africa’s living soul — where wisdom has tusks, tradition wears beads, and the earth itself speaks in harmony through all who walk upon it.