A wildlife photographer’s life has been shattered, his livelihood and bank account in ruins because a monkey took a selfie with his camera.

As the story goes, it seems that a group of monkeys clicking away with the photographer’s digital camera produce portraits of startling beauty.

Andrew told the VQ that he was visiting the park when he decided to try to get close to the animals. With the help of a guide, he got to know the creatures, befriending them, walking with them for days. “They were just interested in the things I was carrying,” he said.

The monkeys took two ‘selfies’ with Andrew’s camera after spending time to teach them how to use it.

The images went viral, cutting out the photographer’s ability to charge for his work on blogs, posts, and memes, basically ruining Andrew’s life as he knew it.

Broke, Andrew says he has no ill will against the animals and will be giving up photography, trying his hand at being a dog-walker to rebuild his life.