I have photographed Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda with varying success over the last ten years - I think our hit rate is around 20% - meaning only one out of every five treks up Volcanoes National Park has yielded anything. I think that’s about right - it’s not easy at 10,000 feet in the rainforest, and the best of my work now hangs in the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Fund in Kinigi, Rwanda. I am glad they don’t display my average pictures, of which there are many.
I recently had the chance to work on a fundraiser with another great American conservationist - Ramona Bass - a legendary figure in Fort Worth - who has offered a sanctuary for displaced Western Lowland Gorillas for many years. The male adult Lowland gorillas have less hair than mountain gorillas and, as a result, look more human. The most famous of these under Ramona’s care is a 33-year-old silverback called Elmo, who can be photographed from a distance at certain times of the day.
He is a handsome boy that carries a look of authority. I wanted a head-on stare, and if the light could catch the eyes, then so much the better.
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