The reaction

Being the pre-digital age, Tom Mangelsen had many a long wait before he could find out if he captured on Fujichrome slide film what his eyes had witnessed. “I saw the moment several times, which was special enough, but it happened so fast and there were so many variables that it was weeks later, when the film was developed, that I knew I’d caught that millisecond between mouth opened and mouth closed. I’ve been lucky, but I’ve had to wait and work for that luck.”

After taking this iconic photograph, Mangelsen went on to win numerous accolades, including the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in 1994. His work is regularly published in National Geographic, Audubon, Geo and BBC Wildlife magazines.

Keith Wilson