“I have to go for the Japanese macaques. I’ve been photographing Japanese macaques for 11 years straight. The first time I saw Japanese macaques on television, years ago in a BBC documentary, I just wanted to see them with my own eyes. It looked so cool, these monkeys bathing in hot springs, these furry small mini-people. I booked a ticket and went to the location in Japan at a time when there weren’t too many people visiting, so, at times, it was just me and the monkeys, which was phenomenal. You’re surrounded. Monkeys sit on top of your hat.

That has definitely changed. With more and more time, people have started to go to these famous hot springs. It’s become a tourist hotspot and a lot of people really don’t show any respect. That’s what I wanted to do at first: to give the macaques some credit, because they’ve become something that people were taking from all the time. They had become a trophy for photographers to take cool photos to take home and show off with. I wanted to get to know them, and get to know their individual characters. I loved it.

I’ve photographed them in other locations across Japan. But in the main location that they’re known for, they’re still wild animals. They’re conditioned but they can come and go as they please. It’s mainly the tourists that make it feel like a zoo these days. But it is wild. When you’re there, one-on-one with them, and look at the population dynamics, it’s a wild environment, which is pretty cool to be a part of.

They’re a species that wasn’t doing so well until the 1960s and 1970s. Then the population started growing and now they’re considered a pest. On a conservation level, that makes them very interesting.

The reason I love photographing them so much is because I got to know them on an individual level. Photographically, primates’ facial expressions are so strong. It’s part of our anthropomorphic way of looking at animals, but you can see a lot of our emotions back in these beautiful animals. Those expressions and getting to know them on an individual basis added such joy.”

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My Big 5

Japanese Macaque
Polar Bear
Elephant Shrew
Arctic Fox
Black Rhino