About Primal Gaze

Primal Gaze is the work of David Harrison — photographer, traveller, and lifelong observer of the natural world.

The images on this site begin as photographs. Over many years and multiple journeys across Africa, David has photographed wildlife in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and beyond — in the field, on foot and from vehicles, in the presence of the animals themselves. These are not staged or captive subjects. They are wild creatures encountered in their own habitat, observed with patience, and photographed in the moments when they turned and looked back.

The original photographs can be seen at eyeofthewild.com, where David's work is archived across three bodies of work: wildlife photography, birds in flight, and landscapes and seascapes.

Primal Gaze takes that photographic foundation and carries it a step further. Each piece begins with one of David's own photographs, which is then transformed into graphic art using a combination of digital tools — stripping away background distraction, intensifying colour and contrast, and drawing the eye toward what the original encounter was really about: the animal's gaze. The result sits between photography and illustration, grounded in a real moment but reimagined as art.

Every piece on this site has a story behind it. A leopard emerging from a cave in the African bush. A golden monkey photographed in the mountain forests of Rwanda. A vulture holding its ground with those extraordinary orange eyes. These are not invented scenes. They happened. Primal Gaze exists to make sure you feel that — wherever you encounter the work.

David Harrison with a silverback mountain gorilla in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, 2022. This is the gorilla featured in the Primal Gaze collection.