Photographer Nick Brandt has documented the extraordinary wildlife of Africa and its unfortunate decimation. His latest set of images include portraits of poachers, hauling their inventory of giant ivory tusks, as well as decomposing carcasses of wildlife, including those of flamingos, bats, giraffes, and varied beasts.

It isn’t all gut-wrenching photography, though. Brandt manages to capture extraordinary visuals of these animals from a rare, intimate perspective. There’s a book containing 90 of the images from 2001-2008 entitled On This Earth, A Shadow Falls that can be purchased directly from Photo-eye. For now though, click on the link and get a taste of this talented man’s vision.