Björn Persson Living Souls For Sale
Björn Persson
Living Souls
Pigment Print
180 X 120 cm /70.9 × 47.2 in | Additional sizes available upon request
About this work
Björn Persson is a Swedish wildlife photographer whose large-format images capture the raw power, dignity, and soul of Africa's iconic animals with cinematic precision and profound emotional depth. In the photograph Living Souls, a pride of lions gathers on the smooth face of a granite rock — a powerful male standing sentinel while a lioness tends to playful cubs nestled between them. Set against a pale, cloud-filled sky, the image radiates warmth, protection, and the quiet endurance of family. For acquisition inquiries regarding Living Souls, please contact Guy Hepner directly.
Price on Application
Edition & Provenance
- Medium
- Pigment Print
- Edition
- Edition of 5
More from this series
About the Photographs Series
Björn Persson is a Swedish fine art photographer and conservation activist whose work has established him as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary wildlife photography. Born in 1972 and raised in Helsingborg, Sweden, Persson has spent decades traveling across Africa and beyond, capturing the raw dignity of the planet's most endangered animals with a vision that is as artistic as it is urgent.
What sets Persson apart from traditional wildlife photographers is his insistence on treating his subjects as a fine artist would, rather than as a documentarian. His images are evocative, cinematic, and deeply emotional, constructed through a meticulous process that spans from field photography to careful post-production. He works across a range of styles, employing artistic overlays, dramatic light, and precise composition to create photographs that feel closer to painting than to photojournalism. Persson's stated mission is to portray animals as sentient, conscious beings with distinct personalities and inner lives. By doing so, he challenges the conventional assumption of human dominance over the natural world, seeking instead to build a bridge of empathy between species. His black-and-white photographs in particular are celebrated for uncovering unexpected tenderness in powerful, dangerous animals, a quality that draws viewers into a profound and often humbling connection with his subjects.
Persson's passion for wildlife was ignited during his time training in field care and anti-poaching work in South Africa's Timbavati Game Reserve, where he witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of poaching on African wildlife. After working for several years as a creative professional in the advertising industry, he made a decisive shift to devote himself entirely to photography and conservation. His work has since been published in National Geographic, Africa Geographic, and Wildlife Magazine, among other prominent outlets. In 2015, he received a nomination for the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award by the BBC and the British Natural History Museum. The following year, he won second prize at the Sony World Photography Awards. His photographs have been exhibited at major institutions around the world, including the Swedish Museum of Natural History, the Natural History Museum in London, the Dunkers Cultural Museum in Helsingborg, and Duncan Miller Gallery in Los Angeles. In 2021, Robert Klein Gallery in Boston presented "Here Forever," Persson's first solo exhibition at the gallery, further cementing his standing in the international fine art world.
Persson has authored a trilogy of photography books that together form a meditation on humanity's relationship with the natural world. His debut monograph, "The Real Owners of the Planet," was published in 2018 as a limited edition, with 40 percent of profits donated to the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Hoedspruit, South Africa. His second book, "Beauty Will Save the World," followed as a richly illustrated volume of 270 pages featuring 151 color and black-and-white photographs spanning locations from Antarctica to Madagascar. A third volume completes the trilogy.
Beyond his photography, Persson is a tireless advocate for wildlife preservation. He is the founder of the Here Forever Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness around wildlife conservation. He also serves as chairman of the Smart Savannahs wildlife foundation in Kenya. Over the years, his donated and sold images have helped raise an estimated 300,000 euros for organizations including Perfect World Foundation, Wildhood Foundation, African Parks, and Star For Life. He was also a contributing photographer to the 2020 Prints For Wildlife sale, which raised more than $660,000 for African Parks globally.
Guy Hepner is proud to offer a curated selection of Björn Persson's fine art prints. Each work reflects his singular ability to transform a photograph into an emotional and philosophical statement, one that moves viewers to see wildlife not as spectacle, but as kin. Collectors drawn to photography that carries genuine moral weight alongside exceptional aesthetic craftsmanship will find Persson's work to be among the most powerful available today.
About Björn Persson
Björn Persson is an internationally acclaimed Swedish fine art photographer and conservationist whose large-format images of the world's most iconic wildlife have earned him recognition in galleries and museums across the globe. Born and raised in Helsingborg, he is now based in Stockholm.
Persson's passion for wildlife began in 2002 while studying conservation and working with anti-poaching efforts in South Africa. In his early years, he worked at an animal rehabilitation center in Kruger Park, living among animals that had been injured and subjected to poaching. That formative experience gave him an intimate understanding of the natural world — and a lifelong urgency to protect it. After working for several years as a creator in the advertising industry, he made the decision to invest himself entirely in wildlife photography and conservation.
Persson's approach sets him apart from traditional wildlife and documentary photographers. Rather than simply documenting animals, he seeks to capture their true essence — portraying them as sentient, emotional, and intelligent beings. By skillfully manipulating light, composition, and context, he creates images that transcend documentary reality, immersing viewers in the beauty and emotional depth of the animal kingdom. Post-production is a crucial part of his process — working with filters, dramatic light, and careful retouching to achieve images that feel vibrant, mythical, and magical. As Persson himself has said, his camera is his paintbrush, and his singular ambition is to capture not just the physical form of an animal, but its soul.
His favorite location is Kenya and the vast plains of the Masai Mara, which he has described as the cradle of life. Over the years his lens has also taken him far beyond Africa — to Ladakh, India, where he photographed the elusive snow leopard in the Hemis National Park in the Karakoram mountain range. His work spans continents and species, united always by the same quality of cinematic grandeur and deep emotional presence.
Persson is the founder of the non-profit foundation Here Forever, dedicated to increasing awareness of wildlife conservation and inspiring people to engage with these issues. He donated forty percent of the profits from his first book to the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Hoedspruit, South Africa. He was also among the photographers supporting the 2020 Prints For Wildlife print sale, which raised more than $660,000 for African Parks, and estimates that images he has sold or donated have helped raise 300,000 euros for organizations including Perfect World Foundation and Wildhood Foundation. Persson is the author of a trilogy of photography books. His first, The Real Owners of the Planet, was followed by Beauty Will Save the World — a 270-page volume featuring 151 color and black-and-white photographs of wildlife from Antarctica to Madagascar. A special highlight of his career has been the opportunity to present his photography books personally to Sir David Attenborough and Jane Goodall.
Björn Persson has become one of the foremost photographers of the African savanna, and his work has been exhibited in prestigious galleries and institutions worldwide. Represented by Guy Hepner in New York, his large-format photographs are held in private and public collections internationally — testaments to a vision that is equal parts artistry, advocacy, and love.