102 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM and website). Another of her photos of a young bull elephant—ears fanned out, eyes alert as he observes his observers safely ensconced in their concrete bunker—made the cover of Smithsonian Magazine. This powerful pachyderm picture resulted from a collaboration with Stanford ecologist and author Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell on a feature story about the relationships of bull elephants in Namibia. “It was the first time that I've gotten a formal assignment from a magazine, first and last really,” says Susan, explaining that photographers who do this kind of work full-time can spend months, even years, developing a story. “It takes a level of devotion and commitment that I cannot tell you how much I admire,” she says. But it’s not what drives her. “What I really love is working with conservation organizations and teaching,” she reflects. UNTAMED ENCOUNTERS Venturing into out-of-the-way places for encounters with the untamed comes with a level of unpredictability. “With wildlife, it's their world and their rules,” Susan emphasizes. “The last thing we want to do is disrupt the animals' lives, disturb their behavior.” Even so, close calls come with the territory. On a horseback safari, “[we were] treated by a ABOVE: (clockwise, from top left) A group of Adélie penguins heads for the water; African savannah elephants gather at Etosha National Park in Namibia; a coastal brown bear and her cubs roam Lake Clark National Park in Alaska.
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