is to continue to invest in the gathering of
original content. We have an ability to do
that, I won’t say it’s unique, but we can
spend half a million dollars on a shoot
and pay for it ourselves. It’s incumbent
on us to do that to try and get content
that other people can’t. I think access
and research are integral parts of pho-
tography. The film shot on South Georgia
[Island] gives insight into how I work.
OP: When most photographers go
out to photograph wildlife in places
like South Georgia, they tend to
pack their longest lenses. You seem
to leave yours behind or at least not
make them your go-to optics.
DY: We’ve got the odd telephoto lens,
but I think it compresses not just in dis-
tance but in emotion. We also study the
numbers. If you look at photographs in
the Sotheby’s and Christie’s auctions—
maybe every year 300 go on sale—tell
me the number that were photographed
with a lens longer than a 300mm? I’d
say “none.” It’s very difficult to take an
image that can be emotional and immer-
sive and memorable with a lens longer
than a 300mm. You can if you’re lucky.
Ansel Adams talked about the lens
looking both ways. It looks back into
your soul, and that reciprocal relationship
diminishes when you magnify.OP: So how do you get up close and
personal with animals in the wild?
DY: I put myself in cages, I use remote
controls a lot with lions. With polar bears,
I go to places where I can be very close to
them on a boat, which they won’t attack.
Orangutans, they’re more scared of you,
so it’s more about not scaring them.OP: What’s the most dangerous
situation you’ve been in?
DY: I was surrounded by grizzly bears
a couple of years ago in Alaska. I got
between a mum and her cubs. I stayed
still, and they got bored of me. They
knew that I hadn’t threatened them at
all. If they had been polar bears, that
would have been more dangerous.OP: Your “Mankind” photo is
one of your best-selling and most
impactful photos in the art world.
How did you create it?
DY: It changed my life. I took that photo
in South Sudan in 2014. Total sales of
that picture are now over 4 million. It42 Outdoor Photographer outdoorphotographer.com