Close-up: expressive wildlife photography by Michael Patrick O'Leary
Close-up: expressive wildlife photography by Michael Patrick O'Leary

Video: Close-up: expressive wildlife photography by Michael Patrick O'Leary

Video: Close-up: expressive wildlife photography by Michael Patrick O'Leary
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One of the portraits by O'Leary
One of the portraits by O'Leary

Photographer Michael Patrick O'Leary admires the bright personality of his models. This is an especially remarkable fact, considering that his models are permanent residents of the Baltimore zoo: lions, giraffes, flamingos and other exotic animals.

Zebra close-up in the photo by Michael Patrick O'Leary
Zebra close-up in the photo by Michael Patrick O'Leary

At first, O'Leary began photographing animals "to order": as part of an event he held Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, he was given full access to the enclosures and asked to take some pictures. Communicating with photogenic animals and birds captured the photographer. "With them you have to indulge in a difficult dance in order to take a good photo - to catch the very lighting that clearly distinguishes the outlines of the body," says O'Leary.

Flamingo. Photo: Michael Patrick O'Leary
Flamingo. Photo: Michael Patrick O'Leary

O'Leary's work is unlike the stereotypical photos from a zoology textbook. The photographer resorts to the use of radical close-ups, looking for an unusual play of chiaroscuro. All the biologically important details in his pictures, of course, cannot be discerned - but O'Leary himself believes that he can convey a bright personality, which he recognizes for each of the inhabitants of the Baltimore Zoo.

The giraffe is one of O'Leary's favorite fashion models
The giraffe is one of O'Leary's favorite fashion models

Wildlife is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for artists and photographers: images of the same giraffes or pink flamingos can be found in the portfolios of many contemporary artists. To Michael Patrick O'Leary's credit, we must admit that he not only exploits animals for the sake of a good shot, but also helps them. Some of O'Leary's expressive images were featured on promo posters for a charity auction raising funds to support the Wildlife Fund AAZK.

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