The muddy depths of the Tanzanian N’Gorongoro caldera become virtually impassable during the monsoon season. Once emptied of its animals and visitors, it can sometimes deliver unusual scenes, like this lone elephant in a field of wild flowers. As they grow older, the males tend to distance themselves from the herd. They can become bad-tempered, unpredictable and haughty, denying all attempts to approach them with their occasionally aggressive behaviour.

**The artist: Patrick de Wilde**

Patrick de Wilde is mainly known for his photographic work relating to Asian religions, vast expanses of wilderness, wildlife and ethnology. He studied briefly at the Beaux-Arts de Lille, then in Paris at the Ecole des Métiers d’Art before receiving a scholarship from the Ecole Supérieure d’Arts Graphiques, which he graduated from in 1973. He then joined the “Marie Claire Albums” group as artistic director, then in 1977 he created newspapers and magazines for the Hoche Courcelles Editions group. While he turned to international reporting in 1981 with the creation of his own studio, it was not until 1991, when he decided to dedicate himself entirely to photography by collaborating with media such as Grands Reportages, Terre Sauvage, BBC Wild Life, Geo, or Ushuaïa. His photographs have been published in over thirty books and have been the subject of numerous exhibitions in Paris (Maison de l’UNESCO, Chapelle du Louvre, Réfectoire des Cordeliers, Art Paris au Grand Palais) as well as internationally and notably in Italy or Qatar as part of the Doh’art festival in 2011.