In 1974, 25-year-old Jonathan Scott, who had just graduated with a degree in Zoology from Queen’s University Belfast, jumped onto an overland truck headed for South Africa.
Four months later, he landed up in Johannesburg — having first passed through places as exotic as the Congo — and knew he was never going back home to England.
In the years since, Jonathan and his wife Angela (whom he married in 1992) have gained a reputation as the leading wildlife and travel photographers in the world, they’ve penned numerous books on the subjects their lenses are so often trained on, and have even presented the popular show, Big Cat Diary, on BBC.
In between winning photography awards and conducting workshops in exotic locations, the Scotts also make time to serve on the boards of various foundations involved in the conservation cause (“To me, a lion or a leopard is as beautiful as a painting by Picasso,” says Jonathan).
Jonathan is a tall, wiry man, still handsome in his 60s. A compact camera is clipped discreetly at his belt, he admits he’s “addicted to taking photos”.
That’s probably a good thing since Jon and Angie tend to work nearly 14-hour days — especially if they’re on their home grounds (the Masai Mara reserve in Kenya). Their day typically begins at 5 am, there is a compelling need to make the most of the light so working through the heat of the afternoon is a given, and when the light fades, it’s time to file their photos and articles for the many agencies they contribute to.
Even when they’re travelling, it’s usually part of a working expedition (giving lectures, mentoring photography enthusiasts or doing a test run for an upcoming guided tour).
Holidays? Never! “It’s fortunate that both Angie and I are very driven,” Jon says. “There’s never a time when we feel that the other is being lazy and not doing their fair share of work, whether it’s carrying the cameras or anything else. Of course, it helps that we have two pairs of hands for everything!”
Indeed, teamwork is the magic principle that seems to have made all things possible for the Scotts — it reflects in the joint bylines they take for their photographs, and in the way Jon speaks of his wife (who was down with a chest infection at the time of the interview).
“Angie’s a very intuitive photographer, while I’m more of an action guy, I like to get right in the middle of things,” he says. “People tend to think of photography as a very solitary pursuit, because at the end of the day, there’s just one person behind the camera. Also, photography in a sense is very selfish, acquisitive — you don’t want anyone else to get ‘your’ shot. But Angie and I don’t think like that at all.”
Among all the animals they’ve chronicled in their books, photos, pen and ink illustrations and TV shows, Jon admits the leopard continues to exert the maximum fascination: “The leopard is the most enigmatic of all creatures. Something within me responds to the predator in them. I don’t want to hunt or kill, but when that leopard is streaking down the plains, I’m right there with it.”
There are other ways in which the Scottts identify with their untamed subjects; certainly, their philosophy towards life and work has been inspired by the close contact they’ve had with the animals they’ve documented.
Jon says, “An old lion — one of the Marsh Pride lions we documented in Big Cat Diary — was recently killed by some Masai tribesmen. It had come to a point where the only way it could survive was by preying on their livestock. But it never gave up, even when it got old. Its life was so extraordinarily precious to it that despite its age, it would still go out to hunt every day. A lot of people think that we’re very brave or courageous because of what we do. But the risk is minimal because we know how to work with the animals. I think we’re courageous in the sense that we get up every day and go out and do our thing. It doesn’t matter if we’re feeling lousy or if we’re unwell. We don’t ever let that be an excuse.”