LENOX, MA.- Sohn Fine Art is presenting an exhibition featuring the photography of Anton Lyalin and Marco Ronconi, two artists whose evocative portraits offer intimate encounters with wild animals. Lyalin photographs across the expansive landscapes of Africa while Ronconi focuses on the northern hemisphere, with images on exhibit captured in the forests and mountains of Japan, creating a visual dialogue between distant ecosystems. Lyalin and Ronconi both seek out moments of quiet observation - a direct gaze, the turn of a head, the tension of a body at rest, or an animal briefly emerging from its surroundings. Their photographs demonstrate that the portrait tradition extends beyond the human figure. These are not simply photographs of wildlife in their environments but captures that encourage us to consider the individuality and presence of each being. Sohn Fine Art’s Director and Curator of the exhibition says, “Lyalin and Ronconi bring us into moments that are rarely witnessed, reminding us of the beauty, strength and fragility of the wild. The works share a common sensibility, one of patience, respect, and a profound attentiveness to the animal.”
Marco Ronconi, Golden Eye. Photograph, archival pigment print, 30 × 45 inches. Edition 9/12 (sold). Courtesy of the artist and Sohn Fine Art.
The title of the show, Kamui, comes from the indigenous Ainu traditions in Japan. In their belief, beings in the natural world are divinities or spirits who are passing through the earthly world, called Kamui. For the Ainu, all men must respect and not disturb the natural world. Among the most important Kamui, Kimun Kamui, or the god of the mountains, is embodied in the great brown bear.
The photo of the brown bear on exhibit is by Marco Ronconi. Ronconi’s path to photography emerged from a desire to convey the emotional essence of a place rather than merely document it. His creative voice found its form through nature and wildlife, where solitude and silence could be translated into imagery. He favors simplicity, negative space and muted tones. The artist often works in monochrome or desaturated palettes to create compositions that are suggestive rather than descriptive. For Ronconi, photography is a process shaped more by omission than by addition, in which meaning arises from restraint. His harmonious photographic compositions embrace the subtle expressive power of emptiness and invite the viewer into a dialogue with silence and space. Whether working in mist, snow, or twilight, his visual narratives offer space for reflection and reveal the deeper emotional layers of landscapes and wildlife. He understands photography as an aesthetic act of expression that transcends its documentary limits to become a medium of visual meditation and introspection.
Marco Ronconi, Kimun Kamuy. Photograph, archival pigment print, 30 × 45 inches. Edition 1/12 (sold). Courtesy of the artist and Sohn Fine Art.
In 2020, Ronconi founded Kamui Editions, a publishing house dedicated to producing high-quality photographic books. His first title, Chiaro Scuro, introduced animals and the natural world through fused darkness and light resulting in a bold visual language. His second book, Hueco Mundo, continued this exploration, shifting to themes of absence, emptiness, and spatial stillness. Ronconi’s work has been published widely and presented in solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe and the US. He regularly collaborates with printmakers and gear specialists, remaining dedicated to the physicality of photography through print.
Anton Lyalin, Portrait of Africa #134. Photograph, archival pigment print, 28 × 44 inches. Edition 2/10. Courtesy of the artist and Sohn Fine Art.
Russian born Anton Lyalin took his first voyage to Africa in 2001. He was immediately hooked, enchanted with Africa’s unique color palette, pristine environment, raw wisdom and its inherent wild side. Thus began a long-term love affair with the country, one that eventually led to his pursuit of the art of photography. For most of his career, Lyalin focused on creating black and white images. His first collection of work, “Portrait of Africa”, was published as a book in 2012, by the State Russian Museum. Most of his later work was photographed with a medium format infrared camera. A portrait photographer at heart, Lyalin focuses on the individual characteristics of each wild animal. Lyalin’s silent moments, positioned face-to-face with wildlife, evoke a sense of mystery and intimacy where the animal is the observer of the photographer. Utilizing dramatic light, Lyalin’s compositions highlight the subtleties that distinguish these figures. This can include a glance resembling that of a human or a posture or movement that differentiates them from their pack. Just like us, these animals are emotive: “they can be sad, compassionate, supportive or foolish,” Lyalin explains. Capturing these aspects reminds us of the brilliant power, grandeur and fragility of nature.
Anton Lyalin’s work is exhibited in leading galleries and museums world-wide. He recently had a retrospective at the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg. Lyalin made his U.S. debut with a solo exhibition at Sohn Fine Art in Lenox, Massachusetts in 2015, and has been represented since.
Anton Lyalin, Portrait of Africa #9. Photograph, archival pigment print, 27.5 × 33 inches. Edition 17/21. Courtesy of the artist and Sohn Fine Art.
