There are probably millions of photos taken of zebras. More and more people are visiting popular travel destinations like safaris in the Serengeti or the Masai Mara, which is why simply taking a portrait of a zebra is no longer special—it's been photographed too many times. I wanted to stand out. My idea was this: why not use a wide-angle lens and photograph the zebras from a distance of less than a meter? Now, of course, one might think, "Sure, the idea is good, but how on earth do you get so close to a zebra? After all, they are wild animals." But there is a solution for this too, and it's called a remote trigger. You position your camera on the ground and trigger it from a distance of 10-15 meters using a remote control. Furthermore, I didn't want to photograph ordinary zebras but the very rare Grey Zebra. There are fewer than 2500 of them left in the wild. They are larger than normal zebras with bigger ears and, in my opinion, more beautiful. So, the search for these zebras began. After several days in Laikipia, located in central Kenya, we found a large group of these zebras. Now, the most difficult part of the task began: positioning the camera so that the zebras were as close to it as possible. Usually, animals are afraid of what they don't know, and it was the same with the camera.

Once laid on the ground, they stopped 5-10 meters in front of the camera and walked a wide arc around it, it was frustrating. After several failed attempts, however, the tables turned in our favor. It was getting hotter, and the zebras seemed to be getting thirsty, so our guide said they would soon head for a waterhole. Luckily, there was one relatively close by, so I positioned my camera exactly between the waterhole and the path that would lead the zebras to it. The zebras came closer and closer and stopped about 10 meters away from the camera again. I thought it had failed again and that the zebras would go to another waterhole but just as I was losing hope, the alpha female decided to approach the camera. I couldn't believe my eyes—she came to within less than 20 centimeters of the camera to sniff it. What an intense encounter.