The first set of booklets document the journey from Heathrow to Quito by plane, with a further flight to Lago Agrio – an oil town in Amazonian Ecuador. We proceeded by bus, pick-up, and finally, canoe.
Once at San José de Payamino, the herpetological and ornithological teams set to work surveying what fauna they could catch. The ‘bird’ team used mist nets, carefully disentangling their catch to identify, measure and ring the birds that became trapped. The ‘frog’ team walked transects, usually at night – later returning the amphibians they caught to the exact spot they were found. I accompanied the teams, becoming progressively more aware of the 3D complexity of the primary rainforest. The second set of booklets contains drawings made during surveys and at the cabañas (research and accommodation huts).
As an artist, I used drawing to investigate the process of jungle fieldwork. Drawing produces work that people can look at immediately – and they relaxed and let me disappear into the background. I disciplined myself to only take photographs that supported the drawing. The result is a partial and personal record of what took my attention, in the round of activity that consists of zoological field studies.
