Justine Blau is a visual artist, creating works that explore the various languages and usages of photography, particularly in a vernacular context. She is interested in the role culture plays in shaping an environment or people’s interactions. Many of her works treat with the complex and peculiar relationship humankind maintains with what we qualify as ‘nature’.

The Charge

By Eric Pierre - Eric had been tracking Arctic wolves on Victoria Island, Canada, when his guide spotted a herd of muskoxen 3 miles (5km) away. Approaching, Eric could see that the herd was nervous, probably because wolves were also on its trail. He made a detour and stopped about half a mile away upwind. Suddenly, he realised that the herd was now running towards them, oblivious of them. “I’ve seen muskoxen run away,” says Eric. “I’ve seen them react to a threat by forming a circle, and I’ve even seen a male charge.

But I’ve never seen a herd spread out into a charging line like this. I could hear the thundering of their hooves. It was one of those situations where it really mattered that I made the right choice between technical accuracy, aesthetics and security.”