Mark Leong's Image

At the Jatinegara Bird and Pet Market in Jakarta, West Java, wild-caught animals such as young long-tailed macaques are sold illegally alongside rabbits, goldfish and other legally traded, captive-bred pets.

To stop them biting their owners, macaques have their sharp teeth blunted. Mark describes what happened when one pet-trader summoned him over to photograph how he did it. 'He put his hand in the cage and pulled out one of the young macaques. It had seen what had happened to others and was squeaking with fear. Using pliers and a whetstone, the man trimmed and filed the monkey's teeth. For many of these pictures, I shot with the focused remoteness that photography allows and sometimes requires. But for this shot I was right there with the macaque, imagining all that snapping and grinding being done to my teeth. It was excruciatingly painful to watch.'