Fototentoonstelling ‘Elephant Emotional Intelligence’
Photo: © 2010 Azriel Cohen (kijk voor meer informatie over de fotograaf onderaan deze pagina)
Tijdens Dance for Elephants (vrijdag 26 maart in Bangkok), gaat de fototentoonstelling ‘Elephant Emotional Intelligence’ van Azriel Cohen in premiere. Deze tentoonstelling is speciaal voor dit Bring the Elephant Home evenement samengesteld.
Name of photo: “FRIENDS FOR LIFE” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
The trunk has no equal in the animal kingdom for dexterity, maneuverability and strength. The trunk tip is packed with nerve endings and according to research by Rasmussen and Munger in 1996 is the most sensitive tissue ever studied! This allows it to perform the even the most delicate functions which range from the ability to pick up a coin from a flat surface to lifting weights in excess of 250kg. Virtually all close elephant interaction involves using the trunk. They use their trunks to touch, stroke, explore, caress and embrace. A mother will wrap her trunk protectively around her baby, close family members and friends will put the tips of their trunks in each others mouths, juveniles will play by trying to wrap up their friends trunk in theirs and potential mates will touch and feel the more private areas of the object of their affection.
www.eleaid.com
Name of photo: “TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
Scientists recently discovered that elephants use their feet to listen. They communicate long distances – perhaps as much as 20 km - with sound waves that travel within the surface of the ground as opposed to the air. There are two ways they hear sounds from the ground: through special cells in their feet and trunks that detect vibrations (“somatosensory pathways”), and acoustic transmission from the toenail through the bones of the leg into the middle ear.
From the book The Elephant’s Secret Sense by Caitlin O’Connell (2007)
Name of photo: “BONDING” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
Elephants are one of a select few animals that have the capacity to be joyful and playful with one another, to grasp humor and appreciate it. As social creatures, elephants will frequently touch one another in affectionate, loving ways. Joy is most often displayed when they greet close friends or family members. Herds sometimes split and larger families are separated. When these herds meet they joyfully greet one another. This welcoming reception includes turning around in circles, holding their heads up, flapping their ears, trumpeting, screaming and even urinating and defecating. Elephants who have formed very close bonds with people are also likely to react in this way on seeing their companion after a separation.
www.andrews-elephant.com
Name of photo: “REMEMBERING” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
Elephants have a memory that far surpasses ours, and spans a lifetime. They grieve deeply for lost loved ones, even shedding tears and suffering depression. They have a sense of compassion that projects beyond their own kind and sometimes extends to others in distress. They help one another in adversity, miss an absent loved one, and when you know them really well, you can see that they even smile when having fun and are happy.
www.andrews-elephants.com
Name of photo: “TOUCH” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
Interestingly, elephants have even been known to amuse themselves by playing games. These can either be played in a group, or with just one player. The animal will use objects from its environment and toss, twist, or interact with it in some way. Games are initiated by trumpeting loudly, indicating to those in the herd that a new session has begun. Unlike humans and some other species, playing games is not confined to the youth; older matriarchs and bulls have been known to engage in some playful recreation. Elephants have even displayed a sense of humor in their games, often tricking and teasing their spectators.
www.andrews-elephants.com
Name of photo: “FIRST STEPS (6 days old)” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
The sole of the elephant’s foot is covered with a thick, cushion like padding that helps sustain weight, prevents slipping and deadens sound. When they need to, elephants can walk almost silently.
www.edensafari.com
Name of photo: “TOGETHER” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
Elephants are able to identify at least 100 other individual elephants by voice. Scientists are researching to check whether elephants are so smart that they can distinguish the difference between different human languages.
BBC, February 2010
Name of photo: “REFLECTION” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
One of the qualities that set elephants apart as animals (and evoke a sense of kinship to human beings) is that of emotion. Elephants are capable of sadness, joy, love, jealousy, fury, grief, compassion, distress and rage.
www.andrews-elephants.com
Name of photo: “AUNTIES’ PROTECTION” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
Elephants are unique, in their insight into and understanding of emotions, their ability to sympathize, empathize, and celebrate. They also have a high level of self-awareness – researchers found that elephants recognize themselves in a mirror, which was thought to be a capacity of only humans and apes. Some scientists wonder if that the emotional intelligence of elephant may surpass that of humans.
Self-recognition in an Asian Elephant, academic paper by Joshua M. Plotnik, Frans B. M. de Waal and Diana Reiss (2006)
Name of photo: “JOY” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
“If elephants didn’t exist, you couldn’t invent one. They belong to a small group of living things so unlikely they challenge credulity and common sense. Compared to them, we are primitive, hanging on to a stubborn, unspecialised, five-fingered state, clever but destructive. They are models of refinement, nature’s archangels, the oldest and largest land mammals, touchstones to our imagination.”
Lyall Watson, Elephantoms
Name of photo: “WAKING UP (6 days old)” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
Recent interdisciplinary research has revealed that all vertebrates share the same underlying structures and mechanisms that dictate properties once considered uniquely human: culture, personality, language and emotion. Neuroscience is studying how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder manifests not only in humans but also in social species such as elephants, with symptoms such as extra vigilance, startle responses, hyper-aggression, and unpredictable asocial behavior.
Gay Bradshaw of Oregon State University and Allan Schore of the University of California. At Elephants Alive workshop in Johannesburg
Name of photo: “UNDERSTANDING” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
The elephant’s capacity for sadness and grief is truly unique amongst members of the animal world, as it is particularly complex in terms of emotions. While most animals do not hesitate to leave the weak and young behind to die, elephants are distressed by the situation, and continue to show signs of this grieving for extended periods of time.
www.andrews-elephants.com
Name of photo: “CONNECTED” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
“A Mahout should only have good behavior and be good-hearted, and then his elephant will be good natured in response. Elephants react to the mahout’s emotions and intentions, and the reverse is true as well.”
Khun Sarote, mahout, Surin Province
Name of photo: “SAFE (6 days old)” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
Researchers at the San Diego Zoo have found that pregnant female elephants use low frequency growls that humans can’t hear to announce that they are about to give birth. The herd reacts by facing outwards to protect the calf from potential predators.
BBC, February 2010
Name of photo: “BEYOND WORDS” © 2010 Azriel Cohen
“The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?”
David Attenborough
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Azriel Cohen, MFA, is an artist and photographer who has been to more than 30 countries, and specializes in creating community between people who normally would not even speak to one other. He is trained in Somatic Experiencing ®, a body-awareness approach to healing trauma rooted in the study of wild animals. Since the summer of 2008 he has been based in Chiang Mai.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
If you are a Westerner like myself and are here in Thailand, you know the feeling of immersing yourself in a foreign culture. What you thought was normal everywhere is not normal in some places, and what you considered strange is not strange for everyone. You realize that most of us just know the reality we grew up in, and little more. If you are lucky enough to deeply experience a culture different than your own, you begin to realize how many different kinds of humans there are, and you might even become more tolerant of people who you don’t understand.
I believe that our world can only benefit by creating more understanding between cultures and people with different worldviews. In fact, the core theme of my career is creating innovative ways to bring understanding between different cultures and religions.
This journey led me to become curious about the cultures of other species, in other words the world of animals. They too live in a different reality than we do, but how often have we ever thought what it’s like to be one of them?
The Asian elephant, tragically, is officially considered an endangered species. These images of elephants, all taken at the Elephant Nature Park near Chiang Mai, are windows into the emotional world of elephants. Included are texts about elephants - many from very recent scientific research - to stimulate your curiosity and imagination. I hope that your time with these images of the gentle giants strengthens your commitment to make sure they don’t go extinct.
Azriel Cohen, Chiang Mai, March 2010
