The chimpanzees’ world is full of color.
In the spring, the landscape blooms with eye-catching wildflowers and green foliage that seem to radiate color and warmth. Summers are characterized by deep turquoise skies. Crisp autumn days turn the surrounding meadows a shiny gold and decorate the surrounding forest with speckles of red, orange and yellow. Even now, in the deep winter, the muted skies and pale snow are overshadowed by the emerald tint of the numerous evergreen trees. Regardless of season, the busy Chimp House itself is always full of colorful blankets, enrichment, produce, tools, and even some sensible wall decor.
Despite all this light flowing around us, capturing compelling portraits of the chimps is usually difficult. For one thing, the chimps and humans are always separated by steel caging, a chimp-proof window or an electrified barrier. These structures wreak havoc on camera lenses and need to be focused out. Even when the chimpanzees are foraging or patrolling outdoors, they are often hundreds of feet away, obscured by dense foliage, or sprinting around the habitat (see: Missy). Sometimes, the bright sunlight creates harsh shadows that yield miserable photographs. Indoor lighting is also a challenge, to put it lightly, and using flash on an alert chimpanzee would be a horrible idea.
However, there is one place in the whole sanctuary where capturing portraits of the chimpanzees seems to be easier than anywhere else. Although it is formally known as Front Room 4, the staff often refer to one of the chimpanzees’ favorite locations as “The Portrait Studio” (1, 2, 3, 4). It’s popularity is likely due to the wide bench that is perfectly situated for looking down the hallway into the bustling kitchen and foyer. From the same vantage, they also can see out the window towards the garden, driveway, hay barn, neighboring cattle pasture, and even across the sanctuary to the opposite ridgeline. It’s a dream come true for nosy chimpanzees, but we caregivers appreciate the space for a different reason; the north-facing window bathes the chimpanzees in soft lighting that is well-suited for portraits.
When Burrito sat in that beam of diffuse light a couple of days ago, as he often does, I decided to snap a bunch of photos and then immediately forgot about them. Today, as I began to formulate a direction for today’s blog post, I rediscovered the series on my camera’s memory card. I then tinkered with the photographs in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, a program commonly used for organizing and manipulating images. Of all the edits I made, I realized that I liked the way Burrito looked without any color. Black-and-white suits Bubba well.
A century ago, most photography was monochrome (gray or sepia) by default. Now, omitting or removing the hue from an image is something photographers and filmmakers purposefully do in order to create a certain aesthetic. As far as our work at CSNW is concerned, I think such a practice has merit. By taking color out of the equation, I feel more attuned to how light flows into the chimpanzees’ home, across the imposing barriers that separate us from them, and onto their facial features. It showcases the depth of their physical space and reminds me that their world, which I can only explore in a superficial manner, has a similar profundity. Furthermore, anatomical structures like hairs, wrinkles, muscles, scars and callouses give character and topography to what would otherwise be registered as a homogeneous gray body. Perhaps this medium highlights some of their more peculiar nonhuman traits while simultaneously making such differences between us and them seem more trivial. Whatever is going on in our eyes and brains, I like portraying them in this way.
Below are my favorites from the series. During processing, I tried not to dramatically alter the overall lighting, hoping instead to preserve the reality of Burrito’s location and mood. What I did tinker with, however, was the relative luminance of the various hues in the photographs, thereby changing how colors contributed to the lightness and darkness in each. Using such a mixer enabled me to create distinct portraits that were taken only seconds apart. For perspective, you can look at the print on the wooden toy block in Burrito’s hand (which is actually dark green, but appears different in each edit). I think that each has its own tone, and perhaps tells a different story. I’ll let you all be the judges.
Very interesting blog and beautiful photos of Burrito!
Thank You!
Thanks, Diane!
Beautiful portraits – Burrito has such a sweet face – my favorite was #4. Thank you for sharing these images, as well as your wonderfully descriptive notes.
Thanks for following along, Anamaria! I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
I just want to hug Burrito in that last picture and kiss him right on his adorable nose. My favorite shot EVER is when he finally got to hug Mave with all those beautiful teeth; top and bottom, showing bc he was so excited to hold her-to touch her….
It was certainly an epic hug, and one of the biggest grins I have ever seen on Bubba’s face. His joy is contagious, for sure.
Very interesting process, he’s so handsome and never takes a bad pic. If you get a chance please do more. Maybe you could catch some shots of the cattle too, they have beautiful coloring.
Hi Marcie! I love hanging out with and photographing the cattle, so perhaps I will work on that for a future post. Their coloring really stands out against the snowy background right now.
Interesting post, and great pictures of the handsome, loveable Mr. B.
Thanks, Jackie! I’m sure B would appreciate the compliment.
What a delightful read, Anthony! Thanks so much for this post. The photos are lovely.
Thanks, Nancy!
They say the eyes are the window to the soul. If that be the case, you have a beautiful soul indeed, sweet Burrito! From your words & pictures posted here, I believe you do too, Anthony. Lucky humans…. lucky chimps. Happy Monday to all of you there.
Aw, thanks, Andrea. Happy Monday (and Tuesday, and so on) to you as well.
That whole set of pictures could be put to story form by a creative writing class . Great photos.
Thanks, Bob!
The intelligence in those eyes and the composure in the way his hands are placed are absolutely compelling.
Isn’t his face so wistful and expressive? I love the way he was holding his hands, too. Questionable editing aside, I think #2 is my favorite because of the way his hands are featured.
Wonderful post, Anthony; and the portraits are divine.
Burrito did the hard work! I’m glad you like them.
Beautiful photos and very handsome Burrito. I see a book of photos coming and earning money for the Sanctuary. Coffee table size book.
That’s a great idea, Kathleen!
These pics are gorgeous. Making me smile! Thanks!
Thanks, Dawn!
As someone who has to work with photography, I enjoyed todays post Anthony. What I find difficult about the reproduction of the chimps images is the reality that the chimps are black, deep black. Just like photographing black dogs in the shelter, their “blackness” makes it very hard to capture facial features and subtle personality expressions. You are so right that the lighting needs to be almost perfect, and in most situations this isn’t an option, especially with a moving target! CSNW’s Photo Booth seems to naturally offer THE perfect lighting for the chimps deep dark hair. Your portraits of yummy Mr. B are simply masterful. My favorite being #4. I love to study hands, brows, nose hairs (!), eyes, and ear shapes. B/W photos do make you see the subject in a whole new light (pun intended). I could look forever, inwardly smiling all the time.
How is Burrito doing these days? I see he still has a mock bandage on him. Hope he is well enough to join the Girl Gang soon.
You’re right Kathleen. Photographing the chimps, who are covered in dark hair, is often difficult. I’m glad you agree that the monochrome filter helps to emphasize the details!
Burrito is doing well and spending nights with his social group, but we are keeping him inside during the day until his foot fully recovers. His mood and energy have recuperated well, along with all his other injuries, so we don’t think he’ll be limited for too long.
(As a side note, thanks for putting “blackness” in quotations. People are often surprised to find out that chimps usually have what we would consider a “light” skin tone on all but their faces and extremities. The genetic mutation that allows for the development of darker skin tones appeared almost six million years after our ancestors diverged from the lineage that became chimpanzees. That fact undermines a common misconception that people often still use when supporting the ideology of racism.)
Eeesh, I must confess, when I used the word in quotes I was thinking along different lines like the tricks in making a photo work for offset or digital print. Animals with black fur and hair sometimes do not reproduce in print easily because subtle details can get lost (a high end DSLR camera will help).
Work with animal shelters, getting that perfect shot of a black pet for the final adoption photo can be tricky. There’s a lot of information on photographing black dogs and cats out there. (Trust me, just Google it.) But it is fun to go down the Photoshop color adjustment/retouching rabbit hole isn’t it! A relief when you save ho-hum lighting in a photo and bring the image to life
Our favorite ( my husband and I ) is number 4. 🙂 Thanks for this! I teach a photo class to middle schoolers in Friday Harbor WA. I’ll share these picks and your notes next week! The kids already know and love all these wonderful Cle Elem chimps.
Thanks, Jenny! I’m still new to photography but I am glad you liked these shots and I hope your students enjoy them as well. Since you’re a photography instructor, I welcome any suggestions, too!
Here’s a link to an article that came up in my phone feed a few moments ago. It reminded me of The Boss.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2230566-man-raised-alongside-chimps-says-it-should-never-happen-again/amp/#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s
Wonderfully adjusted photographs… definitely I second the idea of a coffee table book. Indeed each has it’s own “flavor” .. well done Anthony.
P.S. I like #1 best.. but they are all gorgeous and one could look at them all day. Seems most people like #4 in which he is looking directly into our eyes.. I like the contemplative look of him looking off to the side… what is going on in that brain as you look off into your world Mr B? Lovely photos…
I think it’s “isn’t breakfast/lunch/dinner ready yet?! What are they doing in there!?”
Every time I see a pic of him looking so calm, I think of JB”s post called “the tell”, where he mentions the tapping foot that we don’t see, or some other sign that he’s winding up for a good one.
Very interesting and great photos. Thank you for your time on this project.