“I had to spend the entire night in a foetal position under some tree roots.”

Chien Lee is a biologist and photographer who lives in Borneo. The majority of his work focuses on the wealthy number of fauna and flora discovered within the Indonesian Archipelago.

How did your pictures profession begin? 

I’ve been a nature geek ever since I used to be a toddler rising up in California – chasing bugs with my butterfly internet and studying all the pieces I may in regards to the pure world.

Photography had been a pastime for years, however actually took off once I moved to Borneo, the place I discovered a treasure trove of unbelievable vegetation and animals. I took the plunge in 2003 to develop into a contract wildlife photographer. 

What drew you to Borneo? 

I had all the time needed to dwell and work within the tropical rainforest, so when a job alternative arose on the island simply as I used to be ending my diploma, it was just too good to move up. Borneo’s appeal shouldn’t be solely in its super-biodiverse rainforests, however the friendliness of its peoples, the tradition and the alternatives to really discover. It’s a tremendous place to dwell. 

Which of your photographs is most vital to you and why? 

My favorite photographs are people who illustrate particular behaviour. One that involves thoughts is of a mountain tree shrew utilizing a pitcher plant as a rest room.

It was the primary picture to point out that these pitcher vegetation aren’t carnivorous, however have a mutual relationship with mammals to acquire nitrogen. Capturing the picture concerned tenting with my staff close to a mountain summit for 2 weeks. 

What is the rarest or most uncommon species you’ve come throughout in Borneo? 

There are many poorly documented species in Borneo, so it’s common to seek out that you just’ve captured the first-ever picture of a specific species.

In 1997, climbing a limestone cliff in Sarawak, I photographed and documented a carnivorous plant (Nepenthes campanulata) that was beforehand thought extinct. It had eluded earlier explorers as a result of it solely grows excessive on vertical cliff-faces. 

What’s been your most memorable expertise with a wild animal? 

Coming face-to-face with a clouded leopard in northern Borneo whereas on foot within the forest. I had heard the frenzied alarm calls of macaques and hornbills, and determined to research, ultimately discovering this cat perched in a tree, looking at me. I ran to get my group and, surprisingly, the leopard was nonetheless there. It allowed us to take just a few pictures earlier than it disappeared into the forest. 

Have you had any bushy moments whereas out within the subject? 

Aside from practically freezing to demise on mountains just a few occasions, I’ve not likely had any harmful moments in Borneo. However, on a current night-hike, a member of my group unintentionally disturbed a wasps’ nest. He received stung, went into anaphylaxis and handed out. We needed to carry him down the mountain and rush him to hospital. 

Any epic fails or mishaps? 

I’ve fails on a regular basis. Some are my very own fault, such because the event I dropped a 600mm lens right into a river; others are right down to gear malfunction. Last week, as an illustration, my drone flew off into the clouds, by no means to be seen once more. I’ve additionally misplaced camera-traps to floods, ants and an offended elephant. 

What’s probably the most discomfort you’ve ever skilled on a shoot? 

On plenty of our distant expeditions, you merely have to deal with tenting within the mud, being moist practically on a regular basis, and having bugs and leeches crawling on you. As lengthy as you could have a correct shelter at night time, there isn’t an excessive amount of to fret about.

However, on one mountain trek, I had introduced an expedition hammock that I hadn’t examined. The flysheet couldn’t deal with the following tropical downpour and I needed to spend all the night time in a foetal place underneath some tree roots. 

What species would you wish to seize that has to this point eluded you? 

The Bornean bay cat, one of many world’s least identified felids; the Dulit partridge, a thriller chicken endemic to Borneo; and Friula wallacii, a weird spiny spider that hasn’t been seen since Alfred Russel Wallace discovered it within the nineteenth century. 

See extra of Chien’s work at chienclee.com.

Discover extra unbelievable wildlife encounters

Top picture: Chien in a ship. Credit: Frank Pichardo