“SHOOT TO THRILL”
With the help of an expert photographer, Matt Bell takes aim at Mexico’s wildlife, conquering more than just his camera’s manual settings.
by Matt Bell
What the hell am I doing?
As far as I’m concerned, that’s the only thought possible when you’re crouching down to enter a shadowy bats’ nest inside of a 2,000-year-old Mayan ruin. This nest in particular was located at the farthest reach of the Yucatán, in the Mexican marshland of Sian Ka’an, miles from any village and hours away from the plush Banyan Tree Resort where I was staying. From a few feet above, unlit squeaking noises, cold and demonic, like the sound of dial-up Internet, reverberated down my spine until it locked in a huddled position. On the floor of this ancient chamber, a little smaller than a subway car, I clutched my camera for dear life.