2023

“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.”