This is one of my favourite photographs of all time. This Celebes crested macaque (Macaca nigra) was playing around with the camera of British wildlife photographer David Slater, and took a series of selfies. Look at those eyes! And that wonderful expression!
Because copyright belongs to the person who takes a photograph – unless prior agreement has been made to the contrary – a huge furore arose as to whether the owner of the copyright was the monkey, or the photographer.
The photographer has ended up broke, but on the other hand these little-known and seldom seen animals have become more familiar to the general public. Not to mention that a new area of the law has now been explored and discussed.
Read about the controversy here.
