Henry Horenstein

.: Photographer's Note :.

...Photographing animals is very different from photographing people. You can't tell an elephant where to stand, and you can´t ask a skate to smile or a lizard to say "cheese." Instead, you must be very patient and wait, hoping your subject will do what you want it to do, or maybe something else unexpected that might make a good picture. When animals do cooperate, you have to be ready, because most won't stay in one position long. You have only a few seconds, and often less, to get your shot.

As I watch and wait, I listen to other zoo visitors discuss the animals in human terms. "Look at that," they say. "He's smiling at us." Or, Poor thing, "she's bored." Or, "doesn't that monkey look like Uncle Ike?"

In some ways animals do resemble humans, no doubt. After all, they are our forebearers. Still, I believe animals are their very own creatures, with unique, often surprising and altogether amazing characteristics. And that's what I've tried to capture in these pictures...read more

Flying Fox–Pteropus mearnsi

Asiatic Elephant–Elephas maximus

Domestic Great Dane—Canis lupus familiaris

Beluga Whale–Delphinapterus leucas

Black Widow Spider—Latrodectus mactans

Azure Dart Frog—Dendrobates ezureus

Emperor Penguin—Aptenodytes forsteri

African Grey Parrot–Psittacua erithacus

Bullnose Ray–Myliobatis freminvillii

Gharial—Gavialis gangeticus

Greater Flamingo—Phoenicopterus roseus

Greater Kudu–Tragelaphus strepsiceros

Komodo Dragon–Varanus komodoensis

Giant Pacific Octopus–Enteroctopus dofleini

Great Cormorant–Phalacrocorax carbo

Grevy's zebra—Equus grevyi

Horse—Equus caballus

Lizard–Iguanid lizard

Longnose Skate Egg Case—Raja rhina

Longnose Skate–Raja rhina

Lookdown Fish—Selene vomer

Texas Map Turtle–Graptemys versa

Western Gorilla—Gorilla gorilla

Nile Monitor Lizard–Varanus niloticus

Brown Sea Nettles–Chrysaora fuscescens

Red Imported Fire Ants—Solenopsis invicta

Seahorse—Hippocampus erectus

Smoky Giraffe—Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis

Southern Dogface Butterfly—Colias cesonia

Walrus–Odobenus rosmarus