James & Other Apes - Hardcover

James Mollison; Jane Goodall

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0954689437 ISBN 13: 9780954689438

Publisher: Chris Boot, 2005

Synopsis

Fifty great apes--chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos, our closest biological relatives--are featured in this series of portraits by James Mollison. Photographed over a span of four years in seven ape sanctuaries (in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Germany and the United States), they are mainly orphans, victims of the illicit trade in "bushmeat." Djeke, Fizi, Gregoire, James, Koto and the others are all photographed as unique individuals, in the manner of passport photographs, while representing species whose survival is under threat. Featuring case note biographies and introduced with a powerful essay by Jane Goodall, this book celebrates the great apes. The faces that look back at us also raise profound moral and scientific questions--including what it means to define ourselves "human."

About this title

About the Author

Born in 1973 in Kenya, James Mollison studied Art and Design at Oxford Brookes University, and Documentary Photography at Newport School of Art and Design in the UK. Since 1998, he has lived in Venice, Italy, working with Fabrica, Benetton’s creative laboratory outside Treviso. Photography for Benetton includes their 2001 campaign in support of the United Nations’ Year of the Volunteer, and the 2002 campaign in support of the World Food Programme (for which he was also Creative Editor of Hunger, a Colors supplement). Previous books of his work include Lavoratori (1999), a study of immigrant workers in the Veneto region of Italy, iO? Bologna! (1999), a celebration of Bologna Football Club’s 90th birthday, and Kosovars (2000), a study of refugees from the conflict in the Balkans (2000). He continues to work with Fabrica on campaigns, contributing to Colors Magazine, The United Nations Refugee Agency, The World Health Organization, i-D Magazine, The Guardian, Arena, !
Amica and El Pais, among others, and on personal projects.

From the Inside Flap

From Jane Goodall's Introduction:

'In 1859 Darwin shocked much of the world with his theory of evolution. Most people now accept the idea that we have evolved not from the modern great apes - chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans - but a common ancestor: a chimp-like human-like creature who lived some six to seven million years ago. Recent research has revealed startling similarities in the structure of DNA in apes and humans. We differ from chimpanzees by only about one per cent. Chimpanzees and bonobos are closer to humans than they are to gorillas. All three African great apes show more similarities to us than to orangutans.

'In most of the places where they range, the great apes face extinction within the next ten to fifteen years if we do not act to save them. There were probably close to two million chimpanzees across Africa 100 years ago. Today there are no more than 150,000. They are declining in numbers as a result of ever-growing human populations, constantly encroaching the remaining forests, fragmenting remaining habitats, setting snares and hunting. The situation is even worse for mountain gorillas and orangutans. As wild ape numbers decrease, so the population of orphans in sanctuaries is increasing. Chimpanzees, gorillas and bonobos are being hunted, along with elephants, antelopes and myriad other species, for food - and not to feed starving people, but to satisfy a taste for 'bushmeat' among the urban elite. There is not much meat on an infant ape, so often it will be sold alive, illegally, in the market beside the cut-up body of its mother.

'James Mollison's portraits are of the orphans, confiscated from illegal traders, that make up thepopulation of at least nine seven sanctuaries in Africa and Asia. Many of them have seen their mothers killed, and sometimes butchered, in front of them. Each individual ape has his or her own tragic story of pain and trauma. Each one is different. Look into the eyes of each one of them and you will sense their unique personality.

'I hope that James and Other Apes will stimulate thinking, and help people to understand better our place in nature. For many it will be a humbling experience. We are different from other animals (as they are different from each other) but not as different as we thought.'

((c) Jane Goodall)

Edition details

• Publisher: Chris Boot
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0954689437
• ISBN 13: 9780954689438
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 122