Printer Friendly Version - Meet Cecil’s Friend, Brent Stapelkamp

Cecil and his lioness: This is Cecil when he had 20 or more lions in his family. Here, a lioness pays her respects. October 21, 2012.Photo by Brent Stapelkamp courtesy of Six Summit Gallery

Calling all fans of Cecil the lion! Whether you were outraged by the iconic lion’s death or are a fan of African lions in general, the upcoming show and presentation at Six Summit Gallery will likely be of interest. The exhibit, Cecil the Lion’s Kingdom with Brent Stapelkamp, is on display from Saturday, July 23 through Friday, Sept. 23 at the gallery in Ivoryton. Stapelkamp, a conservationist, photographer, and lion researcher in Zimbabwe, was the last person to touch Cecil before he was killed last year by a wealthy Minnesota dentist on a game hunt. He will give a presentation about his work at a reception on Saturday, July 23 at 6:15 p.m. at the gallery.

For Leo Feroleto of Six Summit Gallery, the exhibit is a continuation of five years of anti-poaching and anti-ivory benefit shows. Last year he attended the Ivory Crush in New York City, an event where approximately one ton of confiscated elephant ivory was crushed before onlookers in Times Square. For him and other Ivoryton residents, the town’s history with the ivory trade sparked an interest in conservation.

“It’s important everywhere,” said Feroleto, “especially here because Ivoryton and Deep River were home to 90 percent of the ivory manufacturing at the turn of the century. When you’re immigrants and you come over here you don’t think about the product, you’re worried about feeding your family. The people I talk to like to give a little bit back and do what we can.”

Feroleto is filled with enthusiasm for Stapelkamp’s involvement with Cecil, as well as his skill as a photographer.

“He’s friends with all these animals, he was friends with Cecil the lion,” said Feroleto. “He was the last person to photograph him; he collared him, he tracked him, he lived with him. You get this feeling that there was a relationship between him and the animals and you can’t fake that, and that really translates in the photos.”

Stapelkamp lives off the grid in Africa in what Feroleto calls a “very humble existence in the bush.” For the past decade he has tracked, collared, photographed, and studied the lions at Hwange National Park with Oxford University’s Hwange Lion Research Project. Tickets for the Saturday, July 23 reception with Stapelkamp are $25. Attendees receive an unrelated fine art book that retails at $40, and the first several purchasers of photos or art will receive a lithograph valued at $150. The talk is followed by a wine and cheese reception in the gallery.

The exhibit, featuring more than 20 of Stapelkamp’s photos featured in National Geographic and other major publications, continues through Friday, Sept. 23.

For info or tickets, contact 860-581-8332 or cecil@sixsummitgallery.com, or visit www.sixsummitgallery.com.

Jericho and Cecil: The now famous partnership: Jericho and Cecil on the morning that was to be the last time Brent would see Cecil. Although unrelated, these two forged an alliance that was very strong until the fateful day in July 2015. May 27, 2015.Photo by Brent Stapelkamp courtesy of Six Summit Gallery