REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN CONSERVATION

ALL PICTURES © MATTHIJS KUIJPERS

N

ot many people count

reptiles or amphibians

as their favourite

animals. Scaly, cold –

and not what you’d call cute – they

also have a dangerous reputation.

But for Dutch photographer

Matthijs Kuijpers, that’s exactly

what drew him to these creatures.

His fascination has transformed

into a lifelong mission to show

another side to them. Once you dig

a little deeper, it’s clear that, despite

not being used as the poster animals

for conservation or biodiversity, they

are absolutely incredible.

I spoke to Matthijs when he was

at his home in the Netherlands, a

scale

Photographer Matthijs Kuijpers has

photographed more than 2,000 reptiles

and amphibians. He tells Amy Davies

about his 30-year quest to collect them all

brief period in between the trips he

embarks on several times a year in

order to discover and photograph

these captivating creatures. He

began photographing the animals

when he was just 15 years old, and

now 30 years later has the largest

collection of reptile and amphibian

photographs by an individual

photographer – some museum

collections may contain more, but

they will have been captured by

several different people.

Of course, the first step to adding

a new photo to his collection is

researching and finding the animals

in the first place. Matthijs explains,

‘I look for what is, in my opinion, a

special animal that’s got something

unique about it – whether

behaviour, shape, a certain look

or whatever. Then I look in books,

encyclopaedias and other paper

stuff that people don’t really tend

to use any more, go on the internet

and look for the animal, and then

I go photo hunting.

‘Sometimes I’ll naturally come

across an animal on my travels, plus

I get a lot of contact from people.

There might be a zoo that has some

animal that has been confiscated

at the airport or something, or

sometimes I get contacted by

a hobbyist who breeds special

animals and gives me the

opportunity to photograph them.’

As a result, about 50% of the

animals are photographed in their

Off

the