Wolfgang Suschitzky
Guy the Gorilla, 1958
Vintage Gelatin Silver Print
25.6 x 19.5 cms
10 1/16 x 7 10/16 ins
11718
On the reverse photographer's stamp and annotations in pencil. Vintage print of one of Wolfgang Suschitzky's most famous pictures. In the Guardian newspaper, Suschitzky chose this image for the series...
On the reverse photographer's stamp and annotations in pencil.
Vintage print of one of Wolfgang Suschitzky's most famous pictures. In the Guardian newspaper, Suschitzky chose this image for the series "My best shot" and explained:
"I took this in 1958... I loved photographing animals, and had made friends with the keepers at London Zoo. This marvellous ape, known as Guy the Gorilla, was living in a tiny cage. People threw him sweets, but I don't think he was happy - I don't see how he could have been. But people came to the zoo just to see him. Julian Huxley, of the Zoological Society, said he was the most magnificent animal he ever encountered.
... I was one of the first to take animal portraits - not straight zoological pictures, but closeups of faces. You need a lot of patience to wait for the right attitude and position.
I took it for my own interest, really, but it was reproduced a lot. The actor and wildlife campaigner Virginia McKenna used it in one of her anti-zoo books. Huxley liked it, too." (15 July 2009)
British Photography / The Hyman Collection
Vintage print of one of Wolfgang Suschitzky's most famous pictures. In the Guardian newspaper, Suschitzky chose this image for the series "My best shot" and explained:
"I took this in 1958... I loved photographing animals, and had made friends with the keepers at London Zoo. This marvellous ape, known as Guy the Gorilla, was living in a tiny cage. People threw him sweets, but I don't think he was happy - I don't see how he could have been. But people came to the zoo just to see him. Julian Huxley, of the Zoological Society, said he was the most magnificent animal he ever encountered.
... I was one of the first to take animal portraits - not straight zoological pictures, but closeups of faces. You need a lot of patience to wait for the right attitude and position.
I took it for my own interest, really, but it was reproduced a lot. The actor and wildlife campaigner Virginia McKenna used it in one of her anti-zoo books. Huxley liked it, too." (15 July 2009)
British Photography / The Hyman Collection