A deep facial wound does not seem to bother this old male lion. He probably picked it up at a squabble over a kill. He sleeps up to 20 hours a day. This image works as expression because of its intimacy and detail. The wound is an incongruity. It tells a story. Without that detail, it’s just another sleeping lion shot. I shot more than 20 images of this lion, and selected this one because it was the most abstract. It showed less, and thus says more. The huge head is framed rich green vegetation, which obscures much of the face, and softens the gory effect of the gaping wound filled with flies. Because the foliage hides the mouth, the big black nose stands in for it. It almost seems to be incongruously grinning, as if from a pleasant dream.