Photo shoot with an elephant on Koh Samui

Date of publication: 05 Jul 2019

In Thailand, the elephant is a sacred animal and a national symbol. At the same time, due to the huge tourist demand, these amazing animals are often kept in cramped conditions and subjected to ill-treatment.

I talked a lot with the elephant drivers and as it turned out, they are not all equally bad, in some centers due to proper care the life expectancy of elephants is many times longer than in the wild. In addition there are so-called rescue elephants centres and sanctuaries, where these animals are obviously happy, dirty, properly fed, and deal with two-legged visitors is strictly voluntary.

Personally, I think this shooting option is ethically acceptable, because both customers and elephants obtain positive emotions communicating with each other.

About the Author

Portrait photographer based on Samui, Thailand.
Originally from Ukraine, he has over 15 years of photography experience taking pictures around Europe and Asia. Multi-Award winner and author of many articles about photography.