Jasper Doest’s best photograph: a Japanese snow monkey in Hell's Valley
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Version 0 of 1. I often choose subjects that are heavily photographed, like mute swans or coots, then show them in a totally new light. These Japanese macaques, or snow monkeys, live in the mountains of Jigokudani Yean-Koen. In the early 1960s, a lady who ran one of the spa resorts spotted some and started feeding them – she felt sorry for them out in the harsh winter. A group started coming down from the mountains every day to bathe and stay warm. It wasn’t hygienic for visitors, so eventually a separate pool was built just for the monkeys. It’s not a zoo – they are still wild animals, but people come by the busload to watch them. And they all want to take the same picture – the monkeys with their heads popping out of the water. I wanted to show them in a completely different way. Over the last few years, I’ve spent a month and a half photographing them. The pool is in the Japanese alpine region, in a valley called Jigokudani, which translates as Hell’s Valley. It’s named that because of the area’s volcanic activity. There’s no sunshine, the only light is the reflection of the snow on the mountains and you can smell the sulphur coming up from the thermal spas. Every time I’m out in the field I ask myself what it is about a place that makes me smile or makes me cry. Here, I wanted to emphasise that mystical quality. This photo was taken during a blizzard that had come on suddenly. The fog (caused by the temperature difference between the hot water and freezing air) started swirling around the water. This happens a few times a week. The bottom of the pool is black so the water surface looks dark. The conditions were perfect – but there was no monkey. There are usually about 30 animals in the water all at once, but that day there were none. So I waited. Suddenly, one jumped up on to this rock and started shaking himself to get the snow off his back. This particular rock had been my nemesis the whole time I had been there. It’s so oddly shaped, almost a square, it doesn’t look natural, and it always seemed to be in the background. But when he jumped on it, that all changed. Combined with the fog, the blizzard and the black water, it suddenly became a monkey floating through the galaxy on a magic carpet. That’s the mythical quality I was hoping for. Macaques communicate a lot through facial expressions. They really show their characters with their eyes and teeth. They are usually very relaxed when they shake their fur so this is his calm, zen face. You can’t control nature photography; you’re a guest in a habitat. Things will never happen the way you expect them to. That means there are very high highlights but very low low points, like when the weather takes over and you are soaked to the bone waiting around for something to happen. But you have to deal with the lows to get highs like this. And it feels so pure when you get to see the world as if it has never been touched by man. CV Born: Vlaardingen, The Netherlands, 1979. Studied: Biology at VU University Amsterdam. No formal photography training. Influences: Michael Nichols, Paul Nicklen and Joel Sartore. Career high: Getting first prize in the creative visions category of the Wildlife photographer of the year award for this image last year. It’s the Oscars of wildlife photography. Career low: Leaving €15,000 of equipment on a train. Advice: Ask yourself what it is that makes your heart beat faster and go after that. |