Bored Panda wanted to explore the specifics of wildlife photography, and Staffan Widstrand kindly agreed to give us a glimpse into his work. To start, the Swedish photographer shared what first sparked his interest in capturing animals and the beauty of the natural world: “I was fascinated by wild animals since a very young age, 3-4 maybe. Later, when I was 6, my family lived in Tanzania for 2 years, and I got to meet lions and elephants and hippos… Since then, a lot of my focus has been to go to where wildlife can be seen, experienced and photographed.”
When asked if there are any species he feels particularly connected to, Widstrand responded: “I am happy to go anywhere to see and learn new things and photograph wildlife, if there are interesting stories to be told about it. That said, some areas and groups of species are extra dear to me. I like predators, both big and small, both birds and mammals and reptiles. There is always extra action, drama and charisma around them. I especially like birds, mammals and snakes. I love the Arctic (especially in winter when it is really cold), and East Africa, India, the Tibetan High plateau, Yunnan and Sichuan in China, Japan, Brazil, Perú, Nepal, plus, of course, Norway, Lapland and Canada. Norway is very high on the list of favourites!”
Staffan also shared more details about one of his most memorable encounters while photographing in the wild: “My first meeting with mountain gorillas in Congo. The really moving thing with meeting them close by was not just that they accept humans to stay near and with their family, at only ten metres distance, and not just that they look very much like humans, but what really made me cry was when I looked into their eyes and saw that they seemed to think that we also look very much like them…! We are very close, and it is really moving.”
Finally, we asked the photographer if there are any locations he still hopes to visit in order to capture wildlife. Widstrand shared: “I have worked hard for decades on going to them all… I still have a few left: Colombia, Ireland, Ukraine, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Namibia, Zambia and Vietnam. Next year...”
