André (4 x 6") (Edition of 50)

Location: Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Year: 2016.

Limited Edition: Edition of 50. Signed, dated and numbered.

Size: 4 x 6” Image Size.

Paper: Museum-Quality Archival Pigment Print.

Includes: Artist Stamped Certificate of Authenticity.

Details: In Virunga National Park — one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a wildlife ranger — I watched André Bauma care for young gorillas who had survived what their families did not.

Senkwekwe, in eastern Congo (DRC), is the only mountain-gorilla orphanage in the world. A sanctuary born from loss, held together by devotion.

I’ll never forget the way this gorilla clung to him — not with fear, but with the relief of a child who felt safe. These orphans live out insane stories few people will ever hear.

André isn’t just a ranger. During years of fighting, he stayed when others had to flee — carrying these beings on his back, along with their grief.

“You must justify why you are on this earth, and gorillas justify why I am here,” André said.

I lived in Congo and across the world for years, though have spent much of these past years raising my daughter in LA. André reminds me how much commitment and courage it often takes — in so many corners of the world — simply to protect what’s left.

Virunga is Africa’s first national park, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

This photograph was made on assignment for Bloomberg. From the series East Congo.