"Motala's Gift" by Suzanne Roland
Thirty-eight years ago, Suzanne traveled to Hong Kong with friends. They got pearls; she came home with a Pentax camera. Now a documentary photographer, with a BA from UC Berkeley in Cultural Anthropology, Suzanne’s work is continually inspired by her travels. In 2010, Roland joined documentary filmmaker Windy Borman and Tellington Touch practitioners in Thailand to document the elephants of the Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital and its founder Soraida Salwala. (Additional images of this trip can be viewed at http://pictage.com/1017288 ).
Photographer Suzanne Roland greeting Motala at FAE in 2010.
At FAE, Roland met Motala, the 49-year old magnificent matriarch who was severely injured by a landmine in 1999. Ten years later, she was fitted with an elephant-sized prosthesis. In all of her majesty, “Motala’s Gift” is a symbol of courage, dignity and wisdom despite the plight of the Asian Elephant.
Roland trains her lens on those affecting positive change in this world of conflict, using the power of the photographic image to tell the story. She currently resides in Napa Valley, where she works as a pet and animal photographer.
“Motala’s Gift” is a 20” x 13” professionally framed and matted fine art editioned print on archival paper. To add “Motala’s Gift” to your home collection, select the “Ele-Photo: Motala’s Gift” donation perk on our online fundraiser.
