Short making of the book "Africa" or a taste of the wildlife photographer job.
Interview during one of our outdoor exhibit for kids in France. We talk about our job and conservation hoping some kids will feel concerned.
I am fascinated by big cats. Here I make friends with a Cheetah names Tsavo in Kenya. One of my favorite animals. Strong and fragile at the same time. Less than 7000 cheetahs left today.
When I went in Rwanda people said : don't get to close to the silver back. They will kill you! The silver backs came to us nicely. this guy sat by my side and looked at me in the eyes. The frontier between humanity and animality became blurry. One of the greatest moment of my life and when I decided to dedicate my work to conservation.
Landed with a bush plane in the dunes of the Suguta valley in Kenya. Just like on another planet.
In Amazonia where I love to go for jaguars. 30 years ago it was impossible to take photos of jaguars but with camera traps. In the Pantanal region, south Amazonia, they got used to see humans and it is quite easy to see them now.
In the dune desert of Suguta valley, Kenya. I am filming the aircam landing for backstage footage.
While a photo shoot on easter island. A place I wanted to see since I was a kid. This is where I truly enjoyed making black and white photography. I think it is more powerful.
This photo for me is like the yin and yang of strength. The elephant is powerful but delicate, Caro is delicate but you can see muscles in her arms. It took us a few minutes to make this photography. She asked me how I wanted her to act. I only said "put your hands on him, I want to see that you feel his magnificence". She reached him, put her hands on him. Click! We had the photo.
When we land in the bush, the tires are covered with thorns. We must fly "very low" on a river to clean them. Otherwise the next landing is the puncture.
With one of my friends in Kenya. It is amazing how gentle can elephants be. They are fantastic creatures. They can communicate 40 kilometers away with each other and we have no idea how they do it. How can humans think themselves superior to such creature?
I first started has an helicopter pilote and as there was no job for me I began to take pictures from the sky. My first book was best seller after 15 days and photographer became my full time job.
We had the chance to spend a few days in an elephant orphanage in Tsavo, Kenya. We bottle fed the orphans and even played soccer with them. it was very impressive because nobody taught them the rules but they understood quite fast the idea. We could see they were definitely having fun playing with the ball.
I spent a lot of time flying over Kenya in bush planes. Here I was taking pictures of flamingos nasting on lake Natron. Fantastic moments. We took great pictures and it was not easy. We couldn't fly to low in order not to scare the birds.
The aircam bush plane flying over the desert at the end of the day. Africa, an aerial adventure, a sunset ... what else
Ready to take off and take photos of the African wonders. each flight feels like a privilege.
When we worked on an aerial book about Kenya. I spent a lot of time in a plane with no doors. it was fantastic de discover Kenya this way.
I love to land in the middle of nowhere in Africa. It only takes few minutes to see people coming to you. You always make interesting encounters.
Trying to reach the top of kilimandjaro. We had to get back to amboseli and its warm altitude. The carburetors of our engines started to freeze.
Precise inventory of our equipment with one of my little fury assistants
I was really moved by our encounter with the mountain gorillas. When you meet them, you can't deny they are our close cousins. We share 97,8% of our DNA. Their attitudes were the same as ours. Their face express feelings the same way we do.
Working in Kenya with my friend Alexis Peltier on his fantastic Aircam plane. It is all open and makes you feel like you are sitting in the sky.
During my big adventure in Madagascar. We would land in the middle of nowhere. People had never seen any airplane. Kids would first run to their parents because they had seen two "Vazaha", (Whites) who had "fallen from the sky under a big kite". Then everybody would gather around us.