Vladimir Medvedev's Image

Vladimir was preoccupied with a task when the raven landed on the totem pole, and he didn’t think there was any urgency, photographically speaking.

He could, of course, see the potential of the scene, in Canada’s Jasper National Park. He knew that the raven had great cultural significance. ‘According to the myths of the indigenous North Americans, the raven is the god that founded the world,’ he says. There was evidence that the totem was regularly used as a perch, and Vladimir assumed that it was one of the raven’s favourite spots. He took one shot. The raven flew away and never came back while he was there.