Plains Watchers

Maasai Mara, Kenya · nature

A herd of impala lifts its heads in unison at the edge of a dirt track, every ear angled in the same direction. The grass goes on forever behind them.

There is a moment, in any herd of grazing animals, when one of them stops chewing and looks up. Then another. Then a dozen. Their bodies don't move, but their attention has shifted, and you can feel it before you see it. They've heard something — a footstep, a low growl, a distant engine — and decided collectively to pay it some respect.

This herd had moved out of the long grass to the edge of the road, then frozen mid-step when the vehicle came round the corner. Big eyes, small movements, an acacia silhouette holding the horizon together. The whole arrangement felt like a still life that had organised itself. I took the photograph and we drove on. They went back to grazing before we were out of sight.

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