2019, Simien Mountains, Ethiopia

During our trip to Ethiopia, one of our main goals was to find and photograph geladas high up in the Simien Mountains. I have always been fascinated by their appearance, especially the males with their thick manes and the red patch on their chest that earned them the nickname “bleeding-heart monkeys.”

One afternoon, after hiking across the ridges, I got close to a dominant male sitting right on the edge of a cliff. His harem was feeding below while he quietly watched over them. The wind picked up, catching his mane, and behind him the background fell into this beautiful dark blue from the distant landscape. Then he looked straight into my lens. It was one of those rare moments where everything lined up; the light, the mood, the subject. I knew as I took the shot that this would be the portrait of the trip.

Geladas are only found in the highlands of Ethiopia and play a key role in keeping the mountain grasslands healthy. Seeing them up there in the wild, behaving just as they have done for thousands of years, was something I will never forget.