Encountering an animal, lying patiently in wait to photograph it… this presumes an act of humility. Many ask me incredulously how I can wait for hours in the cold or in the suffocating heat for just one photo. I usually answer that it takes passion, because that is what gives you the needed determination. I say this because I believe it is the more immediate and comprehensible answer, but the true answer is humility.

It’s coming down off the pedestal that we’ve put ourselves on unilaterally as a species from the moment we defined ourselves as Homo sapiens.

Wearing camouflage when you’re out on the field can certainly help, but the best thing to have on is knowledge, respect and empathy. What’s important is to be aware that meeting “the other” is a privilege. Being on equal terms in the awareness that we are all guests in the same dwelling is the true goal and reward.

It is however very difficult to achieve this awareness: our culture renders this complicated. We are raised as prisoners in a cage of convictions from which setting oneself free remains an arduous task for each one of us.  It took time for me, a lot of time, and as for many others, I’m still not quite there.

There aren’t any alternatives – if we want to save the existing equilibrium of the world – than to save ourselves. It’s either all or none.