‘Tolstoy’. Courtesy of Michel Ghatan
Michel Ghatan works with the most difficult type of models. Animals.  Here he speaks to LUX’s Chief Contributing Editor, Maryam Eisler, about the importance of trust in wildlife photography and his most memorable moments on the job.
LUX: When did your passion for the animal kingdom and for photography come together"

Michel Ghatan: I think they grew at the same time. I was always fascinated by animals when I was growing up. I was fascinated by everything that is extinct. As a child, I was very curious. I had an encyclopedia and I used to read about these extinct species. My father who was an engineer based in Geneva would take my siblings and I on Sunday afternoons to the park or the tennis club, always camera in hand. Now that he is no longer with us, I realise what a great catalogue of pictures I have of our history and our youth. I even found films from the 60?s when he went with my mother to Jerusalem after the Six Day War and Jerusalem was completely empty! The majority of his images were terrible, out of focus, with bad compositions – but the memories remain. I now have all his cameras at home with me. LUX: How important is technicality in your work, given the precision that is required when dealing with animals, especially when you cannot get close to them"

MG: I used to think that the quality of the gear was extremely important. When I started, I had the fastest Canon, the best and very big len...