George Dian Balan (Romanian, b. 1981) Alaskan Rain Bear, 2025 Oversized digital pigment print 40 x 60 inches (101.6 x 152.4 cm) (image) 42 x 62 inches (sheet) Signed in ink, titled, and editioned 1/5 on accompanying label. This lot is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. The Alaskan coastal bears live in a rainy and windy habitat, where mighty mountains meet the Pacific. Chinitna Bay has one of the highest concentrations of brown bears in the world, and as many as twenty of them fish salmon, look for clams or graze there each day. As the surrounding mountains got completely camouflaged in fog and rain, this bear stood up and might wonder where the whole world around it disappeared. The partial side view gives it a sense of anonymity, and the minimalistic composition contributes to a timeless image. This picture was taken during a helicopter trip from Homer and was published by Nat Geo. George Dian Balan is a multi-award-winning fine art photographer, scientist, author, inspirational speaker and world records discoverer, specialised in world record and world class individuals in iconic megafauna species. By using an immersive, cinematic approach, he creates timeless images, portraying as never seen before giants that have captured our imagination. The resulting frames are of the kind that one expects from a Jurassic Park opening scene. He pays much attention not only to the subject selection, perspective and composition, but also to body postures. The artistic question he asked himself is: "if a Statue, a Monument were to be raised to a species, what would that look like?" Have you ever seen an elephant with tusks so long they kissed the ground? Over the years Dian has become one of the most awarded megafauna photographers in the world, with about 40 images distinguished (most often multiple times) in prestigious photography competitions, including as Winner, Photographer of the Year: Wildlife (Re-Focus Awards, New York, 2024), second prize, MontPhoto (Spain, 2024), Highly Honoured, Nature's Best (Washington DC, 2024), Highly Commended, GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year (Germany, 2024), Honourable Mention, MonoVisions Awards (London, 2024), Finalist, Monochromatic Awards (Barcelona, 2024), Finalist, HIPA Diversity (Dubai, 2023), Silver Medal, Px3 Paris (2023), Grand Prize Winner (Untamed Romania, 2018), Finalist, Fine Art Photography Awards (2018, 2017) and weekly finalist, Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year (2018, 2016). Dian was a member of the jury of the Golden Turtle Photography Awards (2023) and the Jackson Wild Film Festival (2022) and the curator of the exhibition Europe's Wild Heart (Brussels, 2019). His pictures were published by National Geographic, BBC Earth, Forbes, GEO, Asian Geographic, Africa Geographic, Wild Planet Photo Magazine, Cranium, Ancient Origins, Nat'Images and Pachyderm, including several times as covers. Because he is so passionate about his work, Dian has become the world leading expert in big-tusked elephants, and the most awarded photographer on this topic. He is the author of the award-winning book The World As It Once Was and of several scientific studies and articles about megafauna and big-tusked elephants in particular. He supports local conservation projects in Africa with proceedings from the book and from fine art prints. Moreover, Dian is collaborating with Colossal Biosciences for the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth. Sometimes results exceeded his wildest expectations: he discovered for the first time in more than 100 years two new World Records- the longest Asian elephant tusk, at almost 11 feet and the thickest Asian elephant tusk, at almost 23 inches (both from India). HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice