As mentioned in this week’s Weekly News, the Magazine 40/40 list, which ranked the top 40 magazine covers of the past four decades, honoured some of the great names in contemporary photography: among them, Leibovitz, Demarchelier, McCurry…and Koko. Tied at no. 37 was a National Geographic cover from Oct. 1978 with a photograph featuring a self-portrait by Koko the gorilla.
Despite this promising start to a photographic career, Koko grew disheartened after she applied for a job with a London pap agency, and was told in no uncertain terms that her 40-word-vocabulary, ability to walk upright for short distances and rudimentary social skills meant she was vastly overqualified for the post.