Snow Monkey Portrait

The monkey portrait was taken in December of 2003 at the Jigukudani near Nagano, Japan. In 1962, a single monkey entered the natural hot springs located there, and the rest is history. Two groups of monkeys, about 200 in total, spend much of the day in the hot springs. The monkeys are habituated to humans, so it is easy to photograph them. I was only a few feet away from the monkey. This picture was taken while the monkey was gazing away from the photographer. One can see the snow on its hair and the suggestion that it is snowing