Unlike the temperament reflected in the photo, colbert himself is not a dreamer. He has the physique of an athlete, a long face, gray eyes, a ponytail and a serious expression. He said that he made these trips in response to the call of elephants. In an interview with The New York Times, he said, "When I was young, I was often called an elephant because I had ears. My mother was worried that I would be traumatized, so she took me to the hospital for ear plastic surgery. But I always feel that I have some kind of continuous connection with elephants. "

In high school, colbert got average grades. After graduation, I did all kinds of small jobs, and my life was once very gloomy. It was not until 2 1 year old that he made up his mind to become a writer. He said, "I like reading. At school, I have been in the library. A bad teacher can teach you how to teach yourself. " He dreamed that one day he could venture to the islands in the South Pacific, but the farthest place he could reach at that time was Paris.

In 1980s, France was a paradise for foreign artists. The socialist government at that time tried to revive French culture to resist the invasion of American culture. While trying to write, colbert joined a group of foreign artists, whose purpose is to bring French culture back to the motherland of all members. Colbert said: "Our catch-22 is that Paris is a good place to live, and only two of our 30 people have returned to China." In his twenties, colbert began to make documentaries reflecting social problems: one about rape, one about dying artists and one about AIDS. The last film has the greatest influence. In the mid-1980 s, it was broadcast on the discovery channel in the United States and many European countries, and it was widely praised. There is a scene of two men kissing in the film, and the sponsor of the film, an insurance company, asked to delete this scene, which made colbert very angry and vowed not to accept any commercial funding from now on.

After making the documentary, he turned to art. He applied for funds from several Canadian foundations, but they were all rejected. Fortunately, in 1992, he held his solo exhibition "Time Tide" in Switzerland and Japan. This has attracted the attention of several wealthy collectors, including the president of French investment bank, Hong Kong fashion retail giant and Scottish luxury yacht manufacturer. They became his sponsors and provided him with millions of dollars during his filming 10.

With these dollars, colbert has traveled 27 times and visited Egypt, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Namibia, South Africa, Somalia and Ethiopia, among which Egypt and India have been there more than once. He also spent 30 months tracking whales in Tonga, Dominica and the Azores. He asked percussionists and dancers to perform in front of elephants and watched them dance together in the lake. He also took the elephant to the temples in Myanmar to take photos. Difficulty in Shooting: The exhibition begins with elephants, and colbert explains, "Elephants are sacred animals in Hinduism. They can ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. " In some photos, elephants are running from the forest to the river, and colbert is standing in the waist-deep river to take pictures of them. He recalled: "The elephants had 6 1 head, and the river was flowing fast. I thought if they came at me, I would be washed away by the river. If they snap their ears, it means they are angry. If they put their long noses in their mouths, you are in big trouble. "

However, except those photos, the elephants in other photos look very docile. Sometimes they are in the water, sometimes they are with dancing or sleeping children, and one of them swims underwater with colbert. You can also find other emotional photos, such as a black woman dancing in a temple in Egypt and an eagle flying behind her.

The most touching photo is of colbert swimming with humpback whales and sperm whales without oxygen tanks. This was taken by one of his assistants underwater. These photos look a bit abstract, like clip art. But they are real. The slow-motion video on the side shows that colbert is like a dancer, twisting and bending with the rhythm of whales. There is a particularly beautiful picture, in which a humpback whale dives to colbert first, then rushes out of the water and uses its huge tail to make waves nearby.

Perhaps the most dangerous moment that colbert experienced was when a sperm whale almost ate him. On the sea near the Caribbean islands, colbert said, "That guy tried to bite my head. I realized for the first time in my life that I was a good lunch. " Of course, he escaped safely at last. A year later, another Burmese elephant took him into the lake with its ivory tip. Colbert learned afterwards that the elephant had killed two people. He was lucky not to get hurt. Recalling these past events, colbert was not excited. He is well aware of the dangers of his work.

From the first day colbert started this project, he didn't know when, where and under what circumstances the project should be completed. He compared his timetable to a bird flying in the air, because birds never follow the established route. He seldom stays in one place for more than three weeks.

"We spent two years tracking whales at sea, but we still can't estimate how long it will take," he explained. "My attitude is not to let things take their course. It doesn't matter how long it takes But you must know that you are dealing with animals. If you emphasize time and try to adapt animals to you, you will get nothing. "