<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/26/wildlife-photographer-doug-gimsey-flying-foxes>
"After standing chest-deep in the middle of the river for hours, the perfect
belly dip was over in the bat of an eye.
It was the moment photographer Doug Gimesy had been waiting for, standing in
his sweaty waders on a stinking hot day, as he steadied kilos of camera
equipment mere inches above the water.
“It’s 35 to 40 degrees, flies buzzing around me, and I’m holding that for
hours, on and off,” he says.
The photograph captures the grey-headed flying fox as it skims the water’s
surface and hurtles directly towards the camera.
Gimesy has spent more than 160 days in the field documenting flying foxes. He
has snapped all four mainland species, capturing their lives and behavioural
quirks in about 50,000 images. Each zooms in on some tiny detail, such as the
way the animals use their wings as sun shades, raincoats, baby blankets or
cooling fans.
“I find them the most incredible mammals,” he says, noting their capacity for
long distance flight, their critical role as pollinators, and the way they care
for and carry their young.
Gimesy uses images to educate people about the magnificence of flying foxes, to
get them to “engage, ask questions and understand”. “Most importantly a good
photo can trigger emotions,” he says. Awe, empathy and love are especially
important given flying foxes are a group that is “often misunderstood and
wrongly vilified”."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
