After a lifetime of observing, photographing, and contemplating the behavior of many kinds of animals, domesticated, wild, and captive, I haven’t a shred of a doubt that they entertain thoughts, express feelings, and possess spirit or soul, and that each one is unique.
In my portraits of animals, I try to reach beyond their obvious beauty to demonstrate their awareness, responsiveness, and individuality. Most of the pictures that follow are of extraordinary individuals in captivity. The mountain gorilla (called Otah by her keepers) and the Siberian tiger are perfectly aware of my attention. They communicate directly, with a dignity as painful to behold as it is impressive. The hamadryas baboon rests against his bars, eyes hooded. The mandrill stares at me briefly and then withdraws into himself, his isolation palpable. The nocturnal snowy owl blinks a few times at the daytime annoyance of the camera, but holds her ground, though she has room to retreat from view. Graceful, velvet smooth, and massive, the sea lion doesn’t stir from her sleep.
When I work with Bel, an eighteen-year-old Lipizzan stallion, his liquid eyes express his gentility, intelligence, and generosity of spirit. In the four hours of our collaboration, he watches me attentively and responds to my requests, both spoken and gestured, moving his dancer’s body back and forth into the light, allowing his human partner to stand upright on his back, and later permitting his feline barn companion to do the same.
We are privileged to share the planet with an incalculable diversity of sentient beings. We tend to treat them badly or dismiss them as inferior, but they have much to teach us, if we grant them the courtesy of our attention.
— Karen Tweedy-Holmes
The photographs from this selection are available as a PDF only. Click here to download.
