Sugar Moon
Sugar Moon
Mélanie Wenger
March 3, 2022
“This picture depicts the 17 year-old Sydney Grimland, in Amarillo, Texas. She is posing on her bed beside the trophy of a zebra she hunted in South Africa, during her first safari there with her family in 2016. She will have it placed over her bed. After Donald Trump modified the import regulations covering certain trophies, the family was able to bring theirs over from Africa in 2018, and place them in their home. Sydney is the daughter of Texan ranch owner and professional hunter Erik Grimland: he breeds exotic animal and offers his clients luxury hunts in northern Texas.
Before this picture was taken, the trophy had just been unloaded from a trailer and carried into the house. Sydney then posed on the bed next to her new trophy, and I took the opportunity to take a portrait of her. After my first shot, she told me to wait, while Erik brought in her rifle. As a statement, she wanted to pose and show the government that when they come to fetch her guns, she will be there waiting to fight for her right to keep them.”
Find out more about Mélanie Wenger's photographic project in LFI magazine 02/22.
Before this picture was taken, the trophy had just been unloaded from a trailer and carried into the house. Sydney then posed on the bed next to her new trophy, and I took the opportunity to take a portrait of her. After my first shot, she told me to wait, while Erik brought in her rifle. As a statement, she wanted to pose and show the government that when they come to fetch her guns, she will be there waiting to fight for her right to keep them.”
Find out more about Mélanie Wenger's photographic project in LFI magazine 02/22.
Picture and text: © Mélanie Wenger
EQUIPMENT: Leica Q, Summilux 28 f/1.7 Asph
Mélanie Wenger+-
The French national graduated in Literature and Journalism. Today she works as a photographer; her pictures have appeared in Le Figaro and National Geographic, among others. In 2017 Wenger won the HSBC Photography Prize; in 2018, she was named LensCulture Emerging Talent for Sugar Moon; and in 2019 her pictures were exhibited at the Festival Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan. She is a founding member of the Inland Cooperative. More