Tiger Portrait

This is a study of the head of one of the most magnificent cats in the world. The tiger has for centuries vied with the lion as the most impressive predator. As such, he has provided competition and threat to man.
The tiger has been found in many parts of Asia in a great variety of habitats. But because of this competition with man, his range is now a pitiful fragment of his former distribution. Before the age of the gun, one tiger was more than a match for a dozen men. Even so, with the few infamous exceptions of man-eating tigers, he avoided man.

In this picture I have tried to show the power and dignity, as well as the quiet sense of control and command, of this lordly beast.