A queen & a witness

I didn’t plan the photo, I just felt the moment slow down.

She was there, motionless behind the glass at the Paris Zoo, and somehow the noise around me faded. The city, the crowd, the footsteps, everything softened. It felt like she noticed me the exact second I noticed her.

I raised my camera slowly, not wanting to break whatever was happening between us. Her amber eyes met the lens. Not curious. Not threatened. Just aware. As if she understood what I was holding in my hands.

Through the glass, through the camera, there was a quiet exchange.I wasn’t photographing an animal.She wasn’t being watched.

She looked past the zoo, past Paris, carrying the memory of rain-soaked forests and deep jungle shadows. And for a brief moment, I felt invited into that world.

Click.

The sound was small, almost disrespectful compared to the silence she carried. But I knew then, I hadn’t taken a picture of a jaguar. I had captured a meeting. Between instinct and intention. Between her wild stillness and my human pause.

Some moments aren’t taken. They’re granted.

Beyond Lens.