On a cold morning in January 2018, I was asked by a client who has bought images of horses why have I don’t have pictures of big cats. I was surprised. I smiled and answered if you are interested I certainly will attempt my luck on the big cats.
After she left I sat in front of my computer and started my search; I am very attracted to the snow, so the first question was how do I find a big cat that lives in the snow. It was not too long before the pumas showed up in my search, I soon realized that Torres del Paine National Park has a lot of pumas. It was the start of my research on the pumas.
I researched Torres del Paine National Park is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia and its accessibility on allowing photographers and videographers to take photos or film in the park. Will I need permits? Will I be safe sleeping in the tent? How close can I get to the pumas? Will I disturb them? What will I do with the puma pictures to inspire people? And so the questions came to my mind.
How I captured Images of Puma
After a good eight months, I made my expedition to Chile to take images of the mighty puma. I flew into Santiago also known as Santiago de Chile, which is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. From there I took a flight to Puerto Natales and then drove with my tracker to Torres del Paine National Park. It was a very scenic route I photographed a lot of landscape images; the lakes were blue as though the sky was on the ground, it was a feast to my eyes I just could not put the camera down. Before we got to my hotel, I saw a lot of beards and the famous guanacos. Guanacos are a cousin of the lama they inhabit both the Pampas plains and mountainous regions of South America. Found in the altiplano of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, and Patagonia, with a small population in Paraguay. In Argentina and Chile, they are more numerous in Patagonian regions, as well as in places such as the Torres del Paine National Park. I kept stopping our car and taking pictures of the guanacos, after the 5th stop I made my tracker politely remind me that I was there to take photos of the big cat puma also known as cougar or mountain lion. He then pointed up at the mountain and said they are watching you.
Next morning we got up at 4.30 am and started our search for the mighty cat. After driving for 1 hr I asked my tracker to stop again, he looked at me and smiled, I had just seen the footprints of a mountain lion in the snow. We parked the car on the side of the road and followed the footmarks for 30 minutes and then I was rewarded. I saw and photographed the puma on my first morning. From that day onwards I came across the big cat for 9 days, I had a great time photographing and making videos it was an amazing experience. My tracker had never had any trip where he saw the cougar for 9 days straight he told me I was very lucky.
The memories of those 9 days always make me smile when I look at the black and white photo prints and the short film at my New York art gallery. Chile and the people I met will always hold a special place in my heart.
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