I had long wanted to photograph the Gallery of Zoology at the Paris Natural History Museum, a Sleeping Beauty of a place where time had stood still a hundred years. But it was closed to the public and my requests were refused. Then to my amazement, one day a phone call came from the French Ministry of Public Works asking if I would like to photograph the Gallery before and during its restoration. For many months after that, my daily companions were those Gallery animals who in the dimness of that cavernous room seemed to come alive once more in front of my camera lens.