Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Gorillas 1






Over the next few days I plan to share photos of zoo animals. When I first started making photographs of animals in zoos, I was frustrated by the small cages and always felt sorry for the animals. I felt so strongly about it that I refused to make photos in zoos. In fact, I wouldn't even visit them for many years.

In recent years, however, enclosures have gotten much bigger and the animals seem to be "happier". When I visit zoos and nature reserves these days I do make photographs but try not to include man-made items in my images.

Photographing primates is interesting because they are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. The first two photos show a large male ape who was looking at me as I made photos. Check the position of his forefinger and thumb in the second image. I zoomed in on its hand after it picked up a piece of broccoli, and except for the hair and colour, the hand is very similar to a human hand.

The young ape in the fourth photo was looking around - probably at the people looking at him through the thick glass. I liked the expression on its face, especially the eyes! The ape in the last photo was hiding behind an old stump and I waited patiently for it to look towards me.

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