When I recently saw his animal portraits, they immediately reminded me of Nick Brandt, one of my favorite photographers, and his timelessly beautiful black and white photos of Africa’s wild animals. The similarity stems from Holas’ ability to make the animals seem majestic, which Brandt is also famous for. According to Trend Hunter, unlike the latter the Czech photographer and graphic designer did not take his photos in the wild, but in a local zoo. He burned the photos’ backgrounds in order to make them look as if they had been taken in a studio. This last part, the realization that these are no wild animals living in freedom, has somewhat spoiled my enjoyment of the gorgeous images.
On the one hand I think these photos are surprisingly striking considering they were taken in a zoo, but on the other I feel a bit guilty because I like them so much.
