Shooting dead animals is easy. They don't move!

I don't know what it is with me and projects.

I was recently commissioned to photograph a wealthy developer's private collection of animals. Not any typical collection. Probably the largest private collection in the country of more than 100 animals shot by the owner over the years. I was only allowed one day to shoot the entire collection which made it a challenge, but I decided to take a more documentary approach to this collection and an attempt to bring these animals back to life through camera position and lighting. It was later suggested to me buy my friend and mentor, Jorge Parra  to convert everything to black and white. At first, I didn't know if this idea would work, because (when shooting animals) I am always trying to show the beauty in color as well as their details, textures, etc. But when I tried this, I quickly fell in love even more. Although I love Black and White as a way of showing more in an image, I think what moved me even more was when I started to think about the stark contrast with my other animals photographed. These animals are dead. No matter how hard a taxidermist or photographer can try to bring life into these animals, they are still dead. Black and White will further this idea.

The images can be found on my website under the nature section. I have put together a collection on a gallery that you can go to by clicking here www.ansarov.com/trophy