Joachim Schmeisser

Born in Germany in 1958, Joachim Schmeisser is best known for his major photographic series in East Africa, especially his iconic portraits of elephants, in particular the orphan elephants at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya.

He began this project in 2009, during a stopover on a trip to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda and the Hadzabe people in Tanzania. Everything changed once he found himself surrounded by these baby elephants, and what was meant to be a brief travel break turned into a wonderful friendship and a remarkable long-term project. It remains ongoing to this day and has become a cause close to his heart.

In 2012, Joachim Schmeisser won the prestigious Hasselblad Master Award for this work. In 2017, his book Elephants in Heaven was launched by the German publisher teNeues and sold out within four months. His following book, Hall of Giants, showcases large-format portraits of some of the oldest and largest bull elephants in Africa, as well as young elephants with the potential to become Big Tuskers. All of these photographs were taken with medium-format cameras, without the use of remote controls or long lenses. These close-ups are extremely rare in wildlife photography; in the case of the Big Tuskers in Amboseli, they are the only images of their kind that exist in this form.

His most recent book, The Last of Their Kind, was published in spring 2021 by teNeues.

Joachim Schmeisser's intention is to show the beauty and uniqueness of our planet and to increase awareness of a topic that concerns us all.

"I see the photos of the elephants as portraits of individuals who are our equals, far removed from spectacular wildlife photography. What interests me is what lies beneath the surface, out of sight: the quiet yet intense encounters. I’d like you to see the images as a window into a fascinating world where everything is connected. Protecting this nature is our most important mission."