Wildlife photographer David Yarrow talks about getting close up to animals
Nature photographer David Yarrow talks to Kylie Knott about Africa, animals and Old Spice
David Yarrow is a fan of Old Spice, the men's grooming brand that reached the peak of its popularity in the 1980s. But he doesn't splash its products on his face or roll them under his armpits: he applies them to his camera.
"My secret's out," the 47-year-old Scotsman says with a laugh. "Yes, I douse my camera in Old Spice to entice animals … I use a remote technique to take pictures so I'm away from the camera, but I need a scent to attract the animals and this varies depending on the species.
As the great war photographer Robert Capa said, 'If a picture isn't good enough, you're not close enough‘
"With elephants you don't need anything because you can predict where they will be within 100 metres. With lions you shouldn't be closer than 60 metres - if you trip, you're in trouble - and I don't use meat to lure them but an Old Spice aftershave. My guide knew lions were attracted to that smell as [ethnic Kenyans] the Masai and colonialists have worn it for years, so I slather it onto the camera. With rhinos we use their own s*** - they're attracted to their own defecation."
These tricks of the trade have made the self-taught snapper one of the most respected wildlife photographers in the world. His work has taken him from the parched plains of Africa to the frozen whiteness of the Antarctic, providing him with memorable encounters with tigers, lions, elephants, rhinos and monkeys. And with a fair share of occupational hazards, some encounters have been more memorable than others.
Pointing to a huge image of a tiger in India's Ranthambore National Park, Yarrow says: "This handsome beast killed two villagers in Rajasthan." In Alaska he came face to face with a fully grown brown bear, and in Cape Town, South Africa, he spent 30 hours on water to capture the moment a great white shark breached the water to catch a seal. "There have been some scary moments but as the great war photographer Robert Capa said, 'If a picture isn't good enough, you're not close enough'. It's very true."
A look at just how close Yarrow got was beautifully presented at "Encounter", an exhibition at The Space gallery in Central last month that also showcased his book of the same name.
The giant black-and-white images perfectly capture the detail of the beasts in the wild, his love of stark scenery, and his desire to look deep into the eyes of his subject. "This has a great back story," he says of an image of a lioness looking like a giant with a tree dwarfed in the background. "She was in Amboseli National Park in Kenya and came straight towards the camera that had been planted remotely. Afterwards she picked up the camera and took it into the bush. Luckily I was able to retrieve it … I remember being emotionally exhausted that day and it was only 7am."