Standard: 40" x 27"

Large: 60" x 40"

Prints are available through William's represented galleries, McKay Williamson (London) & ARTITLEDcontemporary (Netherlands)

Always striving to photograph his wild subjects from within 10 meters, Born Wild posed more of a challenge when William’s subject was a large male lion.

“Throughout my work I have always tried to photograph my wild subjects from within 10 meters and crucially, always by hand.

This meant to get a shot like this, with the animal silhouetted against the stormy sky, I was going to have to get as close as I thought safely possible to a wild lion. No easy task.

Taken in the Serengeti, one of Africa’s largest national parks, we spent days around this male lion, sometimes staying close for hours at a time, others leaving him well alone. Eventually we saw him start to mate with a lioness, a process the lions perform on and off for several days, we knew we had a window.

Anderson Kale, my exceptional guide, suggested we wait for the couple of seconds just after they’ve mated when he’ll stand tall and survey the area around him for competitors, before slumping in a heap.

We watched and we waited (somewhat anxiously) until, as predicted, they finished mating and he stood proud, giving us just enough time to manoeuvre the car in to position and as I frantically composed the shot he opened his mouth wide, showing me every tooth this tough old boy still had (while sending a wave or two down my spine), and giving me the shot I had been waiting for. Although even this is far beyond the expectations I had had.”