The Queen’s Rain
Segera, Tanzania – 2025

“The storm rolled in fast over the Namiri Plains, the way they do out here. One moment, the savannah was drenched in golden light; the next, a wall of gray swallowed the horizon. Most of the pride had already moved to higher ground, disappearing into the fever trees. I should have followed them. But then I saw her.

Perched atop a rounded boulder, a lioness held her cub close against her flank as the first drops began to fall. When the rain came harder, sheets of water slicing through the air, they didn’t move. She kept her body low, her gaze steady, her cub trembling but safe beneath her. They were carved from the storm itself, two figures of quiet defiance, perfectly still amid the chaos.

Through the downpour, her eyes found mine, amber, ancient, and unafraid. This was not a moment of retreat. It was a lesson. A mother teaching her cub what strength looks like when the world turns hostile: to hold your ground, to endure.

I stayed until the clouds passed and they slipped silently back into the grasslands. Some moments demand to be witnessed. This was one of them.

Rendered in black and white, The Queen’s Rain is a meditation on strength and tenderness, a portrait of motherhood in its purest form. Each signed and numbered print preserves the essence of that fleeting instant: the scent of rain, the weight of silence, and the calm defiance of a queen who welcomes the storm.” – Cristina Mittermeier