I flew to Indonesia in November to shoot a wildlife conservation piece for an NGO called “Orangutan Republik”.

Pound for pound, at least 4x as strong as a human.

Teaching the young ones the value of conservation.

Indo kids are the best. Super focused on learning, but a laugh riot given half a chance.

Interviewing activists in the field, without artificial lighting. Rather than using a flexfill as a fill source, I often like to repurpose it as a subtle edge light instead. There are so many subtleties in natural light, from colors to reflections. Sometimes artificial light is too much of an equalizer.

In Bahasa Indonesia, humans are called Orangs, our primate cousins Orangutans. After spending some time with them in the Sumatran jungle, I can see why. Their faces express emotions in ways that are surprisingly familiar…I even convinced myself at times I knew what they were thinking, or at least feeling.

As their natural habitat grows smaller due to the vast and growing palm plantations in the north, the Republik battles to strike a fair balance between Orang and Orangutan. You can find out more at www.orangutanrepublik.org