Photo Credit: Marsel van Oosten via GrindTV

Forget Photoshop, nothing had to be changed on this amazing photo. What you’re looking at is the real deal – a Japanese Snow Monkey hanging out in a hot spring using an iPhone. It was taken by talented and award-winning Dutch photographer Marsel van Oosten at the Jigokudani Monkey Park in Japan.

Whether you find it a little eerie, or amusing, it certainly captures just how much snow monkeys resemble us humans. So what’s the story behind the image?

According to Engadget, while visiting the park earlier this year, van Oosten was joined by a group of tourists who were taking pictures of the monkeys like crazy with their iPhones and iPads. He said they were standing close to the edge of the hot spring, when one of the tourists started taking shots with her iPhone, moving the phone closer and closer to the macaque after each shot.

Suddenly, the animal grabbed the iPhone from her hands and quickly moved away towards the middle of the hot spring. The owner screamed at the thought of her precious phone disappearing, but the monkey was far too fascinated with its new toy to care.

The photographer went on to say that the minutes that followed were “downright hilarious,” noting, “Monkeys already resemble humans in so many ways, but when they’re holding an iPhone, the similarities are almost scary. At some point, it even managed to let the built-in flash of the iPhone go off. When the macaque decided to do some serious underwater testing, the owner of the phone almost fainted. Meanwhile, I was fully aware that this would result in some of the most original snow monkey shots ever.”

And, in case your wondering, van Oosten said that the iPhone was eventually recovered but was no longer working.