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R O U T E
STJ 4.4
VISIONS
SPECIAL PHOTO
ISSUE
/ /
C O V E R
S T O R Y
GOOD THINGS COME...
C A M E R O N E W A R T- S M I T H O N L E M U R S A N D T H E A R T O F T I M I N G I N M A D A G A S C A R
I often think the art in photography is nine
tenths being in the right place, no matter
how hard that may be. Madagascar is one
such place. Just about everything you read
or see about the world’s fourth largest
island (Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo
are bigger) doesn’t quite measure up to
the magic of actually being there. Ninety
per cent of the life that you see there
occurs nowhere else. It’s home to some
42 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE
of the most charismatic animal species
on Earth and, of these, lemurs top the list.
Someone once said, “It would be harder
to travel here and make bad photos than
good.” Come to think of it, I think that
was me…
Not that it’s a walk in the park. While
I was there photographing and filming
for a Smithsonian Channel TV series, we
visited the northern caste landscape called
the Tsingy. This limestone wonderland
is deeply eroded into giant caverns and
razor-sharp rocky outcrops. It’s the hardest
place I’ve ever worked: one slip and you’d
be cut like a loaf passing through a bread
slicer. It’s so sharp it’s nearly impossible to
sit anywhere – or balance your weight on
both feet. Throw in the temperature and
humidity, which more often than not soars
over 35 degrees centigrade and seldom