Simona Kossak, the odyssey of species

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In Italy, the Cortona International Photography Festival is exhibiting unusual photographs taken from the thirty-six years that the Polish biologist and zoologist spent in the Bialowieza Forest, surrounded by lynx, crows, wild boars... and the photographer Lech Wilczek, until November 2.

Simona Kossak and a pack of roe deer in the Bialowieza Forest, Poland. (Lech Wilczek/Courtesy of Ida Matysek)

The young woman, petite and with long braided hair, embraces a large raven. Beak to mouth, camera in hand. In a winter forest, we see her again, fur-lined coat and chapka, a glance at the photographer, she walks with deer. We don't know who follows the other. Do wild animals obey their mistress? Or is it the woman who accompanies the pack and goes for a walk in the woods? A few years later, her hair in the 70s style is cut, her face marked, eyes closed, in contact with the fur of this young lynx, head to head, skin to skin. We see her breathe in the scent and warmth of the animal, in an embrace of great tenderness.

This young woman is Simona Kossak (1943-2007), a biologist and zoologist, and a professor involved in behavioral ecology and the preservation of natural ecosystems. She was born in Krakow into a large family of artists; her grandfather, father, aunts, and sister were painters, writers, and poets. The Kossaks were mistreated by the new communist regime that was taking over, without losing their old manor, "Kossakowka," the noble family's stronghold. Within the home, a certain decadence set in, and other dissensions, humiliations, and rejections from her mother played out. The black sheep of the family, Simona found refuge in the property's garden. After studying biology in Krakow, going against her family's grain, she left the city for the forest. The beginning of her true