Frans de Waal
My Family Album:
Thirty Years of Primate Behavior in Photographs
March 17, 2005
On March 17, SAR members had an opportunity to hear one of the world’s preeminent primatologists in a deeply personal talk. Dr. Frans de Waal, Director, Living Links Center for the Advanced Study of Ape and Human Evolution at the Yerkes Primate Center, and C. H. Candler Professor of Primate Behavior, Department of Psychology, at Emory University, Atlanta, presented My Family Album: Thirty Years of Primate Behavior in Photographs.
An ethnologist, zoologist, and primatologist known internationally for his work on the social intelligence of primates, Dr. de Waal’s moving, intimate portraits capture behavior of chimpanzees, bonobos (close relatives of chimpanzees), capuchin monkeys, baboons, and macaques. His images graphically embody his beliefs that their subtle gestures, expressions, and movements reveal everything from ingenuity and cleverness to humor and deep sadness.
Publishers Weekly said of the book that is the basis for his talk, My Family Album: Thirty Years of Primate Photography (University of California Press, 2004):
“In this absorbing collection of 128 duotones, primatologist de Waal shares evidence he has collected over the past thirty years on primate sociability and emotional intelligence. Rather than harp on the tired theme, ‘they're more like us than you think’ de Waal instead offers warmly personal explanations of the impressive diversity of behavior among primate species. . . . Humor and personality are counterbalanced by deftly inserted scientific concepts and theories, and de Waal’s expressive photos draw viewers into the ‘soap opera’ of the primates’ lives.”
Born in the Netherlands, Dr. de Waal moved to the United States in 1981. His first book, Chimpanzee Politics (1982), compared wily chimpanzees and their power struggles with those of human politicians. Ever since, Dr. de Waal’s signature insight has been to draw parallels between primate and human behavior. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
In 1991 Dr. de Waal accepted a joint position in the Psychology Department of Emory University and at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. His current interests include food-sharing, social reciprocity, and conflict-resolution in primates as well as the origins of morality and justice in human society. His research is funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Mental Health, the National Institutes of Health, and private foundations.
A prolific author and skilled communicator to both general and academic audiences, some recent books include Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals (1996); Bonobos: The Forgotten Ape (1997); Natural Conflict Resolution (2000, with F. Aureli); Tree of Origin: What Primate Behavior Can Tell Us About Human Social Evolution (2001); The Ape and the Sushi Master: Cultural Reflections of a Primatologist (2001); and Animal Social Complexity: Intelligence, Culture, and Individualized Societies (2003, with P. L. Tyack).
Dr. de Waal was born in the Netherlands in 1948. He trained as a zoologist and ethnologist and earned a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Utrecht.
We are grateful for the generous support of our sponsors, Thornburg Investment Management, Inc., Karen Walker Real Estate, and Garcia Street Books. We appreciate the gracious hospitality provided for the lecturer by The Pink Adobe.
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Images:
Copyright Frans de Waal, 2004.
