Rainforest

Shooting in tropical rainforests can be difficult. You’re usually hot and sweaty, there’s a near-constant buzzing of insects around your face, and the weather can go from bright and sunny to literal monsoon-like conditions in a matter of minutes. You also have to deal with the fact that everything that lives there wants to eat you.

Trekking deep into the rainforest through muddy or overgrown conditions also takes its toll, but, it all becomes worth it when you find some of the rarest and most elusive species nestled deep in the lungs of the earth. The shots in this portfolio were captured in Madagascar, Sumatra, and Assam, in northern India.

Nature lovers of all kinds would jump on the opportunity to visit Madagascar, and I was no exception. More than 90% of all the plant and animal species on Madagascar are unique to the island, making it the only place in the world where you can photograph lemurs, indri, fossa, and horned chameleons. In Sumatra, I had the chance to capture elephants in their natural habitat. and I had a lot of luck getting into good filming positions while looking for orangutans. I spent an amazing afternoon photographing a mother and her few-week-old baby.

More so than almost any other natural environment, our rainforests and jungles are at risk of collapse. Every day, more and more primal rainforest is being razed to the ground to make way for farmland or population growth. I’m worried that current conservation efforts simply won’t be enough to protect them in the long term. It’s my sincere hope that we manage to find a way to preserve and protect these magnificent and rich biomes. Losing our rainforests to greed would be a terrible terrible loss.