Amateur Photographer – 16 August 2019

subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 10 August 2019 25

REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN CONSERVATION

ThebookColdInstinct

is availableto buy

now.It features 72

beautifulimagesof

rareandendangered

animals,printedon

thefinestItalianpaper

of thehighestquality

andclarityacross 152

edge-printedpages.

Visitthecoldinstinct.

atellani.comfor

detailedinformation

aboutorderinga copy.

approachedseveraltimesby
publishersovertheyears,but
withsomucheffortgoinginto
thecreationoftheimages,it was
importantthatthebookquality
reflectedthat.Intheend,he
decidedtogodowntherouteof
crowdfunding,somethingwhich
seemstobehappeningwith
increasingregularityformodern
photobooks.

ensureeverythingis exactlyas

hewantsit tobe,suchis his

commitmenttothecause.

Whenyouhavemorethan2,000

imagesinyourarsenal,narrowing

downtheselectioncan’thavebeen

easy.Matthijsenlistedthehelpof

hiswife,daughterandfriendsto

maketheselection.Amongtheset,

hehashisfavourites,usually

becauseofthestorybehindthe

image.Hedescribesone,a purple

toad(left),foundonMountNassau

inSurinam– theonlyplaceit’sever

beenfound.‘Themountainhasa

lotofillegalgoldmining,’Matthijs

relates.‘Thewholemountainis

beingkilledbecauseoftheprocess

ofusingopenmines,andtheyuse

poisontogetgoldoutofthesand.

I wenttheretofindoutif therewere

stilltoadsaliveonit.I hadtobe

heavilyarmedsoit tookmeabouta

weektogettothetopofit,whereI

managedtofindthreeofthetoads.

Butthatwasalmosttwoyearsago,

sotheymightbeextinctnow.’Just

anotheraverageweekintheoffice

forMatthijs.

Puttingtogetheranin-depth,

beautifulbooklikethismightbe

enoughforsomephotographersto

calltimeona givenproject.That’s

notthecaseforMatthijs,whovery

muchviewshisexpeditionsasan

ongoingquest.‘I’mjustbackfroma

newtrip;I wasbackonSundayand

I’mgoingoutagaintotheUnited

Statesina fewweeks.I continueto

dothis;I loveit andI wanttoshow

asmanyreptilesandamphibians

aspossible.They’rereally

misunderstoodcreatures– I want

toshowpeoplewhatwonderful

creatureswehaveonthisplanet.

Theyshouldbeinthespotlight.’

I thinkit’sfairtosaythatMatthijs

hasmorethandonehisbitto

putthemthere.

Thereactionhasbeenhuge– the

original€10,000targetwasraised

withinfourdays,andasofnow,

it’sbeenmetfourtimesover.That

meansthefinishedbookcanbe

createdinthehighestpossible

quality– it usesheavy,200gsm

paper,witha handmadecoverand

a limited-editionhandmadebox.

Matthijshasbeentoa fine-art

printerinItalyabout 10 timesto

Matthijs Kuijpers was

born in the Netherlands,

where it became clear

from a very young age

that he loved animals. He

has travelled the world

photographing reptiles

and amphibians and

has been published in a

wide range of illustrious

publications such as

National Geographic, BBC

Wildlife, The Guardian,

Time and now Amateur

Photographer. Visit

reptiles4all.com.

The animals aren’t posed – sometimes that means Matthijs doesn’t get the shot Matthijs believes that these animals are unique and deserve celebration

The critically

endangered purple

harlequin toad

is only found in

one location

A red salamander

(Pseudotriton ruber)

A mossy frog

(Theloderma corticale)