Annie was kind enough to let me take some photos of her in the greenhouse this afternoon during lunch. In close, tight shots like these, my attention is often drawn towards some of the differences between us – notice her protruding brow ridge, her flat nose, her elongated palms and fingers, her small thumbs, and her opposable big toes. Of course, you can’t help but notice the similarities as well – her eyelashes, her fingernails, the wrinkles in her skin.
Later, I found Jamie sitting in the “portrait studio” area and she was gracious enough to let me photograph her for a while. One notable difference between humans and chimps is that most chimpanzees have dark sclera – that’s the portion of the eye surrounding the pupil and iris. There’s something about the contrast provided by the dark sclera that makes the iris almost glow in a certain light.
