She Waits

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📍 Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda The rain had been falling for some time. We found her settled deep into the undergrowth, arms folded, rain moving through her fur in slow rivers. She was not distressed by it. She was simply waiting, with a patience so complete it had become indistinguishable from stillness itself. In the highlands of Rwanda, mountain gorillas will often pause their feeding in heavy rain, hunkering down into the vegetation until it passes. The forest asks nothing of them in these moments. And so they simply remain. What I was not prepared for was the gaze. She looked at me the way you are looked at when someone has decided you are not a threat but has not yet decided what you are. Not curiosity, exactly. Not indifference. Something more considered than either, a long, level appraisal that lasted several seconds and felt considerably longer. I chose black and white because this image was never about the forest, or the rain, or Rwanda. It was always about that face. And some faces ask to be seen without the distraction of color. Show more