A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

Lara Jackson (BSc Zoology, 2017 and MRes Wildlife Conservation, 2018) is a conservation biologist and wildlife photographer. Her photograph ‘Beads of Blood’ was awarded Highly Commended in the 2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards. We spoke to Lara about her inspiring work, and how her studies at Southampton shaped her future career.

When I was a young girl, I was obsessed with African wildlife but never had an opportunity to go to Africa in person. I come from a reasonably privileged family, but we still didn’t have the disposable income to go on Safari. So when I was able to visit the Masai Mara in Kenya as part of my Master’s degree, that was life changing for me. To be able to see lions, elephants and giraffes up close and to have a camera in my hand: it was magical.

It changed everything and it really ignited a passion in me. I just knew whatever I did, I had to get back to Africa. It wasn’t long before I did, because my Master’s programme involved an extended research project and I was fortunate that I was able to spend three months in Kenya, researching Black Rhinos.

Browsing Black Rhinos

I was looking at browse availability: the amount of food available to the rhinos and how they use those resources across the landscape. Savannah black rhinos are a browsing species, so their vegetation consists heavily of woody vegetation and shrubs. They don’t eat grass, so that’s a massive issue to overcome when you’re trying to increase the population of a critically endangered species.

I was researching what food resources were available to them in that landscape and trying to work out if there was a favoured species of plant that perhaps the reserve could grow in nurseries and then transplant into the reserve, or if there were certain areas that they could protect.

In order to try to protect the woody vegetation, the reserve had set up exclusion zones. You can think of these as a protected area: they’re surrounded with fences that are a bit like a badminton net so rhinos and zebras can pass underneath and access the food, but elephants and giraffes can’t because they’re the ones that really destroy the vegetation. I found that in some of the zones the vegetation had grown beyond the height that Black Rhinos could reach. A big part of the outcome of my research was suggesting that the reserve continue with erecting the zones because the amount of vegetation they could preserve was amazing, but that they needed to do it on a rotational basis. Let the vegetation grow 10 or 20 years and then take the fences away, let the elephants come in, destroy everything, eat all the tall growth, and then the food becomes accessible to Black Rhino again.

That trip was incredible. I loved every second of it. To work so closely with such an iconic species, and to be taking pictures on the side, it was life changing for me.

From research to photography

Through my studies I was fortunate to travel and work in some amazing countries and to see really inspiring wildlife up close. The photography started as a way to show my family what I was seeing.

My first ever university trip was to Madagascar – it was a research trip for my undergraduate dissertation. I stupidly went equipped only with a small action camera and we had lemurs coming down from the trees above our tents. I came back from that trip, and I had no photos to show my family. As soon as that happened, I realized I needed to get a good camera.

In between my undergraduate dissertation and my Master’s I set up my wildlife Instagram page because I had so many photos and the simple reason was I didn’t want to spam everyone on my personal page with them!

I remember at the time there were some incredible wildlife photographers but they were all sharing really dry, technical information like the shutter speed and ISO they’d used to take each photo: only of interest to camera nerds! I thought “You’ve taken a photo of a lion! There’s only 20,000 of them left in the wild and you’ve got a million followers. Why aren’t you talking about that?”

So I started sharing my images with conservation messaging and I guess it struck a chord with people and my Instagram page started to grow. I began to realise that I could reach more people through my photography and through social media than I could if I pursued the scientific research route and focused on publishing in journals, which remain really important but only reach a very small percentage of people.

Given the state of our planet and the danger that we’re in, I felt that the message needed to get out quicker. I could make more of an impact through photography with a heavy emphasis on conservation, than I could through scientific research.

“I began to realise that I could reach more people through my photography and through social media than I could if I pursued the scientific research route and focused on publishing in journals, which remain really important but only reach a very small percentage of people.”

Lara Jackson www.larawildlife.co.uk | Instagram: @lara_wildlife

‘Beads of Blood’

When the pandemic happened, I was working on a dolphin conservation project in Zanzibar. All of the funding was pulled from the project, everything shut down and I had to come back to the UK. After a couple of months not doing very much, I thought to myself, maybe this is the opportunity I need to make photography part of my career. I threw myself in and went for it.

On the day the pubs opened in July 2020, my partner (who is also a wildlife photographer) and I flew to Tanzania. There were no travel restrictions at the time. We were working for a safari company who were desperately trying to raise awareness of the situation over there.

Reserves and conservancies rely heavily on the money generated by ecotourism in Africa to fund conservation, anti-poaching, security and rangers. Through the pandemic it had all just trickled to a stop. Guides and rangers were cut off from their jobs, with families to feed, so they really wanted us to raise awareness of the problems and document the wildlife and the absence of tourists.

It was pretty amazing: we were in the Serengeti National Park and we were the only car there at peak tourism season, which was very strange. That was, I think, the trip that made me realise I really could do this. Being employed by the safari company meant they could see value in what I do.

That was when I took the ‘Beads of Blood’ photograph. It was the time of year when the annual wildebeest migration moves through the Serengeti Mara ecosystem. Wildebeest go crashing through the river and are taken down by crocodiles and lions. It’s a time when there’s a lot of prey within the ecosystem and the predators go crazy as they can secure the easiest meal possible for about two months.

We were on the bank waiting for the crossings to start. About two million wildebeest were swarming on the banks, just hanging around, waiting, and at some point, one animal would go to cross, and it would start a chain reaction. It’s overwhelming.

As we waited, I saw movement at the corner of my eye. Was that a lion? We didn’t know. So we drove the car a little closer. And there she was - this lioness had just taken down a wildebeest. Unfortunately it wasn’t a clean kill. We think the lioness was quite young and possibly quite inexperienced. She had got it down and started to eat but it was still alive. The only way I could deal with it was to look through my camera, not with the naked eye. The scientist in me was fascinated. I’d never seen a successful hunt before. But part of me was also aware that it was horrendous. It was a grizzly moment.

I think it’s important to show that nature isn’t pretty, elegant or convenient. It can be brutal.

I was lucky because she was really focused on eating - as we got closer with the vehicle she put her paw over the carcass as if saying, you know to say “This is my kill. Don’t come any closer.” She just happened to look up and she looked straight down the lens of my camera.

I took the shot and I think that’s the first time I’ve ever felt properly intimidated by a lion: usually they ignore you but she was really looking directly at us, warning us to stay away.

The vehicle was specially adapted for photography: the sides fold down so you can lie on your front in the bed of the truck and there’s nothing between you. I was right at her eye level. It was really, really intense.

A voice for the voiceless

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Ol Pejeta in Kenya, which is where the last two Northern White Rhinos live. There are only two left in the whole world and I was able to photograph them. For me that was a dream come true.

It’s an incredibly sad story but it’s one that really needs to be told. These animals are protected 24/7 by Rangers and I was able to photograph the relationship between the Rangers and the rhinos, which for me was special. I want to use my conservation background more and show the work that’s being done to protect nature. That’s the direction I want to move in with my photography.

I always want to use my photography as a voice for the voiceless, to raise awareness and get the message out there. A photograph conveys so much more information than a headline. I think it sticks with people. I always hope that my photography evokes an emotional response in the viewer, so they actually do something about it. I don’t want them think “oh, that’s sad” and then forget about it.

I want them to think “What can I do to help? How can I change what I’m doing to stop that happening?”

I want to ensure that the stories I’m telling have real life consequences for the good of conservation.

The weirdest thing I’ve ever found myself photographing is a fake Loch Ness Monster made out of recycled jeans! It was called Messy, the COPness Monster. WaterBear, a streaming platform dedicated to environmental documentaries, built Messy out of 800 pairs of jeans to raise awareness of COP 26 in Glasgow, and start a conversation about fast fashion.

The realities of the job

A day in my life can include anything and everything! Sometimes I’m just replying to emails all day. Other times I’ll be brainstorming an idea and doing research to find out about interesting or unique stories. Of course the exciting part is when you’re out on assignment, waking up early every morning to make sure you’re up for the sunrise, seeing what wildlife you come across and trying to capture everything the best way that you can.

I think the job is a lot more computer-based than people realise: they only see the photos and the travelling, but there’s a lot of work that goes into planning those trips.

Anyone who want to get into conservation and photography should know that both are incredibly competitive industries that favour people who have come from privileged backgrounds. Photography equipment is disgustingly expensive. Conservation requires you to do two years of work for free before you qualify for a paid job.

The best advice I can give is to just be relentless, to be dedicated, to never take “no” personally, because you will hear it a lot. Try to develop something that sets you apart and just keep going, because you will breakthrough eventually and you just need to get a foot in the door.

“My university trips were the thing that kickstarted everything for me, but they were expensive. It’s so important to open up those opportunities for all students, to get them out into the world. The conservation world loses so many amazing, talented people who can’t afford these things without support. Programmes like Ignite, which support the students who need it the most, are so important to help these brilliant people get a place at the table.”

Next on the horizon

Next month, I’ll be running a photography workshop in Kenya where we will have three participants who have never been to Africa before. I’m excited to share the magic with them. After that my partner and I are off to Switzerland to do a project on the lynx there. The basis of that project is to explore what they’ve done and how we might look to reintroduce the lynx in the UK and live alongside them.

Then I’ll be heading out to India to work with a rhino orphanage. They look after Greater One-horned rhinos; there are only around 3,000 left in the wild. I’m working with them to create photographs for them to use in fundraising opportunities and newsletters.

I really am obsessed with rhinos!

What can I do about conservation issues?

I always think that conservation starts in our own back garden. You might research charities nearer to home to see what projects they’re running that you could help with. For any photographers who are reading, those charities are always in need of imagery. If you’re happy to give them your photos to use for fundraising, that can really help with awareness. But also just talking about these things with friends and family, spreading the word can have a huge impact.