Semar

Semar is the youngest son of hippo-mum Dania in Ragunan Zoo, Jakarta Indonesia (see post: Mustache Mummy), and the baby brother of Donna and Reno (see post: Donna and Reno). On March 10, 2010, Dania gave birth to a 30 kg baby boy. The number 10 in the Indonesia language is: sepuluh. March is Maret. So, his name is a combination of his date of birth: Sepuluh Maret = Semar. When I took this photo, Semar was around 4 weeks old. A few months later I could stroke his incredibly tiny and soft ears, and feed him some pealed bananas. I am sure, not many people have felt the soft toothless inside of a baby hippo’s mouth….. From a photographer’s point of view, it was… challenging! Imagine trying to photograph an object, moving constantly and having almost the same color as the water..... On top of that..... being inside, in a very dark part of a building, harsh and very bright light shining directly into the camera, and hanging half way on an iron fence. And then… when I found the right angle….. Semar decided to disappear under water, for a minute of 5 or 10, several times…. And when he surfaced (ears turning and flapping, my favorite thing… hippos do!), his preferred place to be was safely behind his mums enormous head…. Bye bye photo opportunity! After a million misses (long live digital photography).... finally..... a lucky shot!