Taming predators through photography

Bear, wolf and wolverine—wild predators almost extinct by now—are gradually returning to the Finnish forests. During the last decade it has been extremely popular to photograph wild predators using carrion. Nature photographers go to great lengths trying to photograph predators in the wilderness while almost identical photos could be obtained with much less effort in a zoo. But the effort and daring required for photography in the wild underscores the importance of the photographer and adds value to the resulting photographs. Nature photographs are trophies and means for social respect. Photographing wild predators is a rite, an ordeal of initiation. It is a physical and emotional endeavour subjected to unwritten laws. Successful photographs of wild predators are pictures that embrace a socially defined aesthetic. These aesthetically uniform pictures provide a ticket to the growing social community of photographers. As a result public interest in nature is heightened, but only as far as it is tamed and controlled in colourful images.