Close-up with Emanuele Biggi – Photography and Conservation
Naturalist, TV presenter and first ever winner of Close-up Photographer of the Year, Emanuele Biggi, shares his expert knowledge on photography and conservation, an encounter with a ‘ghost’ elephant, Nikon’s best camera and how to succeed in competitions.
Interview by Tracy Calder, CUPOTY co-founder.
© Emanuele Biggi | Namib’s Gaze – The winning picture of CUPOTY 01
Emanuele Biggi
Describing himself as a ‘frogs and bugs nerd’, Emanuele Biggi is a naturalist, conservationist and wildlife photographer. He also works as a TV presenter on Italian TV program GEO, a live show that focuses on nature, the environment and news. Emanuele was the winner of CUPOTY 01.
To see more of his work visit www.anura.it or @emanuele_biggi on Instagram.
You like to concentrate on smaller and lesser-known flora and fauna, why?
Smaller creatures never cease to amaze me – every day I learn something new about them. Even when I was at kindergarten, I was interested in small animals, partly because they reminded me there’s always something beautiful to see in the world. Nature is never boring. Also, when I was a teenager, I liked Sci-fi movies and some of the animals looked like aliens, which really appealed to me! It’s hard to explain, but it comes from the heart – maybe inside I’m a six-legged or thousand-legged creature!
Do you think photography can genuinely play a role in conservation?
Yes! We live in a world of images, so they’re mandatory if you want to tell a story about conservation. Text, of course, is important, but combining the two is the killer way to get the message across. Photography is a powerful tool, because with a single image you can quickly show a problem that needs fixing. Unfortunately, we don’t have much time in our society – many people become informed about issues relating to conservation via a single image rather than reading a paper, so you have to be aware of this tendency. You can tell a story in a more in-depth way with video, but photography allows you to offer a glimpse of what’s happening.
‘I prefer to talk with younger people because they are the future, they have the world in their hands, and they are still forming ideas, so the conservation message is stronger on them.’
I think social media is a good way to convey some concepts, but it has its downsides. You talk to a big audience, so the message is spread, but after a week most photographs are forgotten. The main issue is you’re not doing conservation if you only receive likes. I miss the papers and magazines where there is more space to tell a story. I still work with all the magazines I can, particularly those geared towards the younger generation. I prefer to talk with younger people because they are the future, they have the world in their hands, and they are still forming ideas, so the conservation message is stronger on them. Adults tend to have their own ideas and its very, very hard to change their minds.
I also think competitions have a very big role to play in letting people know that something is happening on the conservation side, good or bad, so I love it when a competition has a conservation category.
© Emanuele Biggi | Leaf-tailed Gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus) – Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar
What’s the value of concentrating on projects rather than standalone images?
I always have a project in mind. Most of the time I keep a storybook with ideas (and even some very bad drawings!), as I like to have an idea of what I am working with or on, but I always try to stay open to opportunities – many good things happen when you don’t try to focus too much on the project and try to leave space for new things to emerge.
‘Most of the time I keep a storybook with ideas (and even some very bad drawings!)’
I know you often hire local guides – why are they so important to your work?
Hiring a guide can be very helpful. In Madagascar, for example, even if you’re a specialist in your field you’ll probably miss half the species that you could see. The guides who work in the national parks and reserves are there all the time and they talk to one another. They know where a gecko or night lemur might be sleeping so you can see them the following day, for example.
I always try to work with local guides or researchers. If you show the importance of nature (including its economic value) then people are more likely to preserve it. What’s more, your work – and tourism – can feed their families. Some guides have become friends, and I never fail to learn something from them. I always try to talk with local people, not just guides.
‘Hiring a guide can be very helpful. In Madagascar, for example, even if you’re a specialist in your field you’ll probably miss half the species that you could see.’
What has been your favourite animal to photograph so far?
That’s a difficult question, but one of the most interesting animals I have photographed is a little jumping spider called a Portia spider, which specialises in hunting other spiders. It does this using various techniques, which it adjusts depending on the conditions, I find this very interesting. I also love photographing them because they move like robots! They are about 1cm long and they are one of the most amazing animals I’ve ever seen.
© Emanuele Biggi | Portia fimbriata – Kubah National Park, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia
Is there an animal that still evades you?
It’s mainly bigger animals like brown hyenas (I would love to see them in the Namib Desert and it would be a dream come true if I could photograph them along the coast trying to eat some Cape fur seal corpses), but on a smaller scale I would love to photograph the monkey tree frog Phyllomedusa sauvagii. It’s an incredible frog, because it’s adapted to a very dry environment without needing to bury itself. As a side note, its pee is not ammonia like other frogs, it’s actually uric acid, like a desert lizard.
I can’t believe someone tested its wee!
Of course! It’s the sort of thing scientists do!
‘I’m a scientist, but I’m pretty sure that if I held up my finger an elephant could hide behind it’
You’ve worked in so many different environments and situations, any hairy moments?
Yes, there’s been a few, but most of them haven’t involved animals! On one occasion, however, I was surprised by an elephant. It was night and I was pointing my torch at the ground looking for geckos. All of a sudden, I felt something, like a presence. I raised my head and saw a grey wall a few metres away. It was a big bull elephant, very calm, going about his business. Elephants are like ghosts at night, you can be right next to them and not hear them. I’m a scientist, but I’m pretty sure if I held up my finger an elephant could hide behind it. I think they have superpowers! The bull didn’t care about me – I never actually felt frightened.
Emanuele Biggi in the field
You’ve made quite a few discoveries through your work – is there anything that has totally amazed you?
Yes, absolutely! In 2008 I was at Los Amigos Biological Station in Peru when I was able to photograph the symbiotic relationship between a giant spider and a tiny frog. My colleague and I were probably the first people to photograph the interaction between these creatures – there was a scientific paper written on the subject, but they had mismatched the species of tarantula and there were a few mistakes. The paper told the story, but there was nothing to document the situation very well. We were able to publish an update on the previous paper.
Generally, big spiders eat small amphibians and big amphibians eat small spiders, but here it was different – the frog lived with the spider but was never attacked, even as other passing amphibians were captured.
‘Generally, big spiders eat small amphibians and big amphibians eat small spiders, but here it was different’
We found a spider burrow in the forest and returned the following evening to watch. The frog came out first, followed by a small spiderling – they live with the mother for some months – and then finally the adult came out to sit and wait for prey. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen in my life. Just being there and watching them was incredible.
[The advantages to the frog (Chiasmocleis) are obvious: it won’t be attacked by other spiders or small snakes – intrusions are not tolerated in the tarantula territory. It’s possible that the arachnid (an undescribed Theraphosidae of the genus Pamphobeteus) is somehow helped by the frog, which preys upon small parasites and, possibly, ants that could harm the spider or its spawn.]
© Emanuele Biggi | Pamphobeteus & Chiasmocleis symbiotic relationship – Peruvian rainforest
Tell me about the equipment you use?
I’m using two cameras right now: the Nikon Z7 and the Nikon D850. For macro I mainly use the Z7 because it’s lightweight and has a very useful built-in rear panel. I also like the focus peaking feature, because most of my macro lenses are manual so it allows me to be accurate when focusing – if you’re in a hurry or the subject is moving it’s also very useful. Aside from that, I’m using, I think, the most perfect camera Nikon ever made, the D850. I would like a little more ISO capability for shooting safari-like shots, but other than that it’s perfect.
‘I’m using, I think, the most perfect camera Nikon ever made, the D850’
Any tips for people entering Close-up Photographer of the Year?
Stay fresh. I’ve been a judge on other competitions and what I was looking for was something fresh, something that no one has shared before. The classic shot of a butterfly on a blade of grass with a blurred background is nice, but there are so many of them that you risk becoming overwhelmed by similar images.
Experiment more. To stay fresh you need to try different techniques and camera settings. You can work with a classic subject, like a lizard on a wall or a pigeon, and create an original picture with the right approach. Jasper Doest, for example, created his Pandemic Pigeons series during lockdown. I really like this story – every image he posted on social media attracted my attention.
To be original you need to try different techniques, angles and points of view. At the moment, for example, I’m using a Laowa Macro Probe Lens. It’s a very thin lens, which means that I can lay on the ground and approach a subject in a very different way. Two years ago, I was able to photograph a small species of viper by placing the lens into the grass and getting a cricket’s-eye view – it was very different from all of the photos of vipers I’d seen around, which I liked.
Be respectful. Always act in a respectful way towards nature and try to show animals in their environment doing what they do without changing their behaviour. I’ve seen too many ants doing odd stuff and frogs attached to invisible threads – that’s not what I like to see.
© Emanuele Biggi | Whip Scorpion (Heterophrynus elephas) hunting – Los Amigos Biological Station, Peru
Any room for improvement?
One thing I don’t like about nature competitions – even the most famous ones – is that normally the judges, at least in the first rounds, are only looking at aesthetics. Most of the pictures that are interesting in a different way get discarded. So many images that are winners to me, because they depict something unusual or interesting, lose out.
Images need to be pretty, of course: composition, light and aesthetics are all important, but sometimes it would be nice if the judges could read the description of the image to have a different understanding of what is happening. It’s important. Also, as photographers we put a lot of work into writing the captions!
Read more about Emanuele’s winning entry ‘Namib’s Gaze’ for CUPOTY 01 here.
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