Always Looking at Animals: 10 Animal Photographers and their Work

The animals come first in these photographs, with their eyes telling us the stories we cannot hear and choose to ignore. Jo-Anne McArthur is an incredibly talented photographer that focuses on challenging Species-ism by capturing their images for campaigns and famous animal rights organizations.

There’s something about children and animals playing together that reminds us of what is important. It’s like a grounded innocence unspoiled by ideologies and constructs. Elena Shumilova photographs her children at play in a small town in Russia and the outcome is what Beatrix Potter’s dreams were made of.

Tim Flach is a famous for his incredible dog photography. Another set of his work called “More Human than Human”, is full of pictures of animals as we’ve never seen them before: like us. Flach breaks down the binaries between man and animal with the flash, and at the same time, he takes our breath away (another vital thing we share as animals).

When coming across a bull breed, people often have preconceived notions and fears about these dogs. Usually unfairly treated, they end up in shelters or euthanized. Douglas Saunders uses photography to catch the gentle faces of these beautiful dogs for the #Notabully campaign.

Lucy James uses photography of cats in her whimsical collages. She makes them larger than life and works of art in themselves. Her work is featured in Cat People Magazine.

Here’s another misunderstood animal. We disgrace the pig by using its name as a derogatory term in our language and assume they are dirty animals. While they may enjoy the mud (and so do we sometimes), they are intelligent and empathetic creatures. Toshiteru Yamaji photographs a genuine relationship with a group of pigs, that brings out their social attributes and warm company.

There is no animal on this planet more metal than the cat and that’s the truth. Alexandra Crockett’s book is a collection of photographs of metal heads with their kitty cats. She makes the hard face of the metal head look softer and the fluffy fur of the cat look harder. The dog is out, and the cat is the metal lovers best friend.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand has a huge photography portfolio, full of spectacular images of the world, and he seems to understand that we share the ground with non-human animals as well. Cats still captivate us, and the internet is proof of this.

Deborah Barnes captures animals in a way that somehow gets us so close, we can almost hear our shared heartbeats in rhythm. The eyes are especially symbolic, as they see us as much as we see them.

Andy Rouse shares the world of light and flight in his wildlife photography. He captures the hidden animals along side the ones who have no problem being exposed to the sight of the curious human eye.