These Polaroid photographs were taken of the people trading in wild animals in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The image in the upper left was of a regular market seller who was extremely suspicious of me. Although several of his friends cooperated with me over the years, he never lowered his defenses. I was polite, but purposely did not ask him questions.
The upper right photograph was of another seller who traveled to the interior himself. He is on the left, with a parrot trapper from Boende. A number of people were African grey parrot specialists, and they made their living from the capture, transport, and export of this species. Most of the parrots with CITES permits went to Europe.
The lower left Polaroid shows two men that are looking intently at a young chimpanzee at the main market downtown. The animal has swelling of the lower eyelids -- a sign of malnutrition. The final photograph is of an man who brought a red forest hog from the village to sell in the capital. My research showed that, unlike parrots, other animals found their way to Kinshasa by one-time sellers, because there was no organized demand.
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