Editor:
I realize Canmore photographer John Marriott is a bit of a local celebrity, but I find extreme irony in his views on competing wildlife photographers compared to his own actions.
In a Calgary Herald article on May 4 he admonishes reckless wildlife “paparazzi” while in the same article conservationist Jim Pissot states, “Clearly there are bums out there with lenses,” he said. “I’ve seen them and I’ve stopped and reprimanded them at roadsides where they are pursuing elk or sheep or even a bear into the bush because they want the better picture.”
And yet, on Mariott’s own blog about a lynx sighting he describes the event using these exact words: “Within twenty minutes of following the lynx, I was soaked through in sweat. But as anyone else would do, I plunged onwards deeper and deeper into the forest, the adrenalin coursing through my veins.”
He goes on to describe following the lynx for over six hours. Marriott’s photography is stunning, but with stories like these posted by the photographer himself, he should be the last one complaining about other’s behaviour.
Paul Enos,
Cochrane
