For wildlife photographer Jasper Doest, the job doesn’t simply stop once the images are taken.
The Dutch documentarian, who specialises in conservation issues, says he strives to “bridge the gap between the natural world and ourselves” through his work, some of which was exhibited last month at the Xposure International Photography Festival in Sharjah.
His photographs of Japanese macaques portray the primates in their blisteringly cold habitat. With flakes of snow peppered on their faces — with their evocative humanlike expressions — the images are a reminder that “we’re not as different as we often think", writes Doest on his Instagram.
His other works also show nature's troubling relationship with animals. His Spreeuw Central series depicts starlings fearlessly trotting between passengers and pecking at croissant crumbs in a Rotterdam train station.
Meanwhile, Meet Bob tells the story of a Caribbean flamingo that was left severely concussed after flying into a hotel window on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao. After being rehabilitated by Doest's cousin Odette, a local vet who also runs Curacao's wildlife rehabilitation centre and charity Fundashon Dier En Onderwijs Cariben, the bird became the organisation's ambassador, educating people about the importance of protecting the island’s wildlife.
“I’ve noticed there is a growing divide between ourselves and the natural world,” he says. “My work is to make people care about all life that surrounds us. I try to do that in an engaging way where I try not to judge, but much rather ask questions about our connection with other species.”
Doest says that photography is essential in putting a spotlight on the human relationship with animals and informing people about encroaching environmental issues.
“Our future is on the line. This is our one and only home,” he says. “We need to educate people about the valuable conservation work that has been going on and we need to convince the public to choose local decision makers wisely. Our planet needs sustainability. Photographers can give a voice to those who can’t speak for themselves. Photographers can initiate change. That is the power of photography.”
He says that his line of work often means him being a "professional problem-solver". While working on Gone to Waste, his 2016 photo series that shows white storks — once entirely a migratory species in Europe — residing near landfill sites in Iberia, he came upon several bureaucratic hurdles, which he says required a good deal of patience and perseverance to manoeuvre.
“I worked on getting a permit for two years to photograph on a garbage dump,” he says. “When I finally got it, I was in Sweden and had to drive all the way to Spain to reach the location for the photo shoot. When I arrived after a 30-hour drive, they told me I couldn’t enter because it was privately owned land and my governmental permit wouldn’t give me access.”
Doest eventually managed to get permission to enter the sites and photograph the storks. “There’s always a struggle,” he says. “We’re professional problem-solvers. But in the end, it’s these experiences that make it ever so exciting when things work out.”
However, Doest doesn’t take photographs to raise awareness as he believes that isn’t going to do much to better the planet’s health or people's treatment of animals.
“The term ‘raising awareness’ is highly overrated,” he says. “As a child, I remember I learnt about deforestation in the Amazon. It was something everyone was talking about. Everyone was aware and wanted it to stop. Now I’m in my 40s and still we’re clearcutting the Amazon with a rate of three football fields per minute. Yet, we’re aware.”
He says photography can help us to push beyond awareness. Images can spur action, connecting with audiences as well as with non-profit organisations and businesses.
“We slowly see that we’re making steps in the right direction,” he says. “That’s a hopeful development. Let’s hope we can increase the capacity and make people care and act. That will be key in the coming years.”
While Doest’s ventures means he ends up witnessing some heinous cases of humankind’s treatment of animals, he says that there is always hope.
“As long as the sun comes up every day, there’s a chance to change things around. I’ve learnt that losing faith doesn’t change anything, it only freezes us and doesn’t push things forward. So even in the darkest of times, I look at the light.”
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Liverpool 4
Salah (19'), Mane (45 2', 53'), Sturridge (87')
West Ham United 0
Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Princeton
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
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