Dan Eldon was born in London in 1970 to an American mother and a British father. Along with his younger sister, Amy, Dan and his family moved to Kenya in east Africa in 1977. Kenya remained Dan’s home for the rest of his life, and though he traveled often – visiting more than 40 countries in 22 years – he always considered Africa home.

Dan’s father led the east Africa division of a European computer company and his mother Kathy, an Iowa native, was a freelance journalist. Kenya was a popular destination in the late 1970s and 1980s; it was more politically stable and economically secure than most African nations, and the bountiful wildlife and perfect climate made it all the more appealing. Dan and Amy grew up with a constant stream of interesting visitors at their dinner table. Frog researchers, opera singers, filmmakers, reporters, and politicians were just some of the people who populated the Eldon household. In 1982, Dan narrowly missed being caught up in the coup in Kenya, but he was around to experience the aftermath of that political upheaval. Early on, he joined his journalist mother on her assignments, and soon was taking pictures, which were used in the local newspapers. Read more…

Video credits: Jason Russell and Invisible Children