Meaningful Gestures: Five photo editors pick moments of masculine poise
LOVE DEVOTION LOYALTY
Sometimes elegance dwells in an action. Here we asked five international photo editors, curators and photographers to propose a photograph which, for them, captures the essence of elegance in a momentary gesture. The images they selected encompass moments of doubt, moments of tenderness, moments of determination, moments of triumph and moments of loss - and sometimes moments which combine all of these emotions. Joseph Wachira comforts Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino on the planet Photograph by Ami Vitale Chosen by Hideko Kataoka All living things must die, we meet only to leave. That is the way of the world.”
The Tale of the Heike, translated from Japanese (anonymous).
Ami Vitale captured the final farewell between two species: mankind and the northern white rhino. The former is responsible for the latter’s extinction, as well as efforts to preserve its legacy.
Joseph Wachira spends the final moments comforting Sudan, the last of his kind. Joseph’s tender, graceful attitude is full of respect and love as he cares for his fr iend at the end.
Sudan breathed his last at the age of 45.When he was two years old, in 1975, he was captured in the country of Sudan and moved to a Czech zoo, where he stayed until 2009. Sudan spent his final years in Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy, surrounded by the people who had dedicated their lives to protecting him. Ami writes in the caption: “This can be our wake-up call. In a world of more than 7 billion people, we must see our selves as par t of the landscape.”
These words underline the value of each moment, and remind us that all things are in a state of flux and impermanence.They are not words of mourning for our fixed destiny, but a call for us to change that destiny with our actions.This heartbreaking picture, and the story of Sudan it encapsulates, should inspire us to be better. Hideko Kataoka has been director of photography at Newsweek
Japan since 2001. She joined the magazine as a photographer in 1991, covering national news, social issues and portraiture of world business and cultural leaders. As director of photography, she oversees and directs photography both for the printed and digital editions of the magazine as well as its special issues .