P20_462

Shameless capuchin monkey
The capuchin monkey seems to be smelling the flower, but don’t be fooled, he is about to do another mischief, as it is in his nature.
The capuchin monkey is a true rascal! Every time I observe this guy, I am obliged to admit this evidence. Before commenting on the photo, just to substantiate this cruel and perhaps unfair assertion, I will tell a little story that I witnessed.
In the vicinity of a jungle hotel there was a footbridge where tourists passed on their excursions in the forest. I was there, looking for a subject, and the capuchin monkeys were in the area, but they weren’t in a very favorable light position. When a group of tourists appeared at the end of the walkway, I became interested in focusing on their amazed faces, attracted by curious plant forms, insects that jumped out of their photographic attempts. Suddenly I noticed a single capuchin monkey approaching the walkway from above, and when the tourists got right below it, the loved one determinedly shooks the branch and fleds with suspicious haste… a cloud of hornets came out of the nest, hidden between the leaves and launched himself at the dazzled group, turning delight into terror. They ran all over the place, while the rascals idly enjoyed the pre-planned scene.
Perhaps some readers will find this exaggerated, in the conviction that abilities such as intelligence, playfulness and trickery are purely human characteristics. No, after so many expeditions in the Amazon rainforest, I can no longer see the animal kingdom, and even the plant kingdom, as a world of purely mechanical behaviors, dictated by an instinctive reaction, described in the DNA. There is a mystery that attracts, a diffuse, impersonal intelligence that makes the trees of the same species bloom all at the same time, makes the seeds sprout at exactly the most favorable moment, sometimes after years of waiting… and even makes some monkeys enjoy the misfortune of others.
The story of this photograph is very similar, albeit with a different outcome: I was photographing the flower, completely absorbed in my task and the fearless challenger arrived, as always furtively and suspiciously, took the flower and… ate the flower, clearly implying with my activity. Anyway, thank you!
I must confess that when the monkey grabbed the flower I was taken by the frenzy of an exceptional image and I started shooting when the flash took a while to recharge… so I lost the photo of the moment the monkey ates the flower. It’s as if the trickster didn’t want to record his prank, because in the last photo, even though the flower is very close to his face, he still hasn’t opened his mouth. And now, I’ve become the accuser without evidence.

P20_462 – Leonide Principe
Camera Nikon F5 with Nikkor lens 70-200mm f2.8 – Diapositive Film Fujichrome Velvia 50 – Scanner: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED
Digitised from a positive on film
Original file size: 5259px x 3503px
Location Taken: Paraná do Ariaú (Iranduba – Amazonas Brazil)
Aproximate Date Taken: 1993
Collection: Monkeys – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
macaco-prego, brown capuchin monkey, Cebus apella, macacos, apes, monkeys, primates, mamíferos, mammals, FAUNA, animals, paraná do Ariaú, Ariau paranaParana – (from the Tupi para’ ná, similar to the sea). The branch of a river that feeds water back into the same river downstream or into another river.  Paranás occur frequently In the Amazon Basin and many of them are densely populated.   More, Iranduba, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America, maracujá-do-mato, Passiflora sp, wild passion fruit, flores, bloom, blooming, blossom, flowers, FLORA, plantas, plants, NFT
EN01 Shameless monkey P20_462
PT01 Shameless monkey P20_462
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos

P20_463

Smelling the flower
Eternalized in a sublime moment of refined sensitivity, the primate (Cebus apella) abandons itself to the pleasure of the fragrance. But make no mistake! It even looks like it’s smelling, but my flash tired of many photos in the forest only managed to light up two romantic images. The third image would be the proof to demonstrate the shamelessness of this monkey, this particular species, capuchin monkey. He had no sensitivity to the beauty of the flower, I suppose. He simply came to eat the flower to tease me. Of course I was happy, he offered me two of my best images, I couldn’t wait to develop that film. Thinking better, I am the villain and the monkey is the real artist in this series, as the third image, of eating the flower, would have broken the spell.

P20_463 – Leonide Principe
Camera Nikon F5 with Nikkor lens 70-200mm f2.8 – Diapositive Film Fujichrome Velvia 50 – Scanner: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED
Digitised from a positive on film
Original file size: 5259px x 3503px
Location Taken: Paraná do Ariaú (Iranduba – Amazonas Brazil)
Aproximate Date Taken: 1997
Collection: Monkeys – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
macaco-prego, brown capuchin monkey, Cebus apella, macacos, apes, monkeys, primates, mamíferos, mammals, FAUNA, animals, paraná do Ariaú, Ariau parana, Iranduba, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America, maracujá-do-mato, Passiflora sp, wild passion fruit, flores, bloom, blooming, blossom, flowers, FLORA, plantas, plants, NFT
EN02 Smelling the flower P20_463
PT02 Smelling the flower P20_463
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos

NFT available on OpenSea