How can I create a totally unique image of an orangutan? That’s what I was asking myself when I conceived the idea for this shot.

I wanted to use a wide lens to capture—high in the pristine rain-forest canopy—a totally wild orangutan in its element. But while rigging and climbing trees with ropes has been part of my process for years, I knew wild orangutans would be too shy to approach if I were up in a tree. A shot like this was going to have to be made with a hidden remote camera. The big challenge: where to put the camera?

Indonesia’s Gunung Palung National Park on the island of Borneo is a forest I know well. I've worked for years