Artist
David Slater(British, born 1965)British, born 1965
CultureBritish
Titles
- Monkey Selfie
Date2011, printed 2018
MediumInkjet print
DimensionsImage: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by James Edward Maloney, Joan Morgenstern, and Clinton T. Willour in honor of the monkey
Object number2018.45
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
David Slater visited the Tangkoko Reserve on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi,
he positioned his camera on a tripod amid a troop of crested macaques and
waited for them to get curious and release the shutter. After a few hours,
Slater’s camera captured this grinning monkey. The image became an Internet
favorite, but People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued the
photographer, arguing that rights to the photograph belonged to the monkey,
Naruto. Ultimately a federal judge ruled that copyright law does not extend to animals.
This photograph of a charismatic creature is engaging, but it also speaks to
the rise of online image sharing and its consequences.
ProvenanceThe artist; purchased by MFAH, 2018.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions recto or verso]
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
![[monkey looking out of window]](/internal/media/dispatcher/209389/thumbnail)
Keystone View Company
c. 1914
Gelatin silver stereograph
2004.1220.149
William Wegman
1972
Single-channel digital video, transferred from Sony AV 3600 1/2-inch video tape, black-and-white, sound
2019.402.49
Tom Hück
2018–2022
Woodcut, printed recto and verso on four sheets of Japanese Paper using Tom Hück's Outlaw Black Relief Ink by Gamblin and an overleaf printed on black paper with white ink; the three leaves of the triptych connected with printed stickers; edition 19/30
2023.219.A-.C
