Photographer Perou
BEST known for his fashion photography and portraits of , Perou is used to capturing the wilder side of life. But these models are particularly fierce.
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鈥淚 set up a photo studio to photograph these magnificent animals, much the same way I would photograph a rock star or a fashion model,鈥� he says of his year-long stint at The Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden, UK. He created a special room for the cats, in which they could come and go as they pleased.
Popping antihistamines to ease his cat allergy, Perou spent many hours feeding the animals, getting them accustomed to him. After six months, he feared he wouldn鈥檛 get any decent pictures. But the process of adapting to each cat鈥檚 personality began to pay off, and he was eventually able to take striking shots.
The jaguar (Panthera onca) on the聽 is Maya. Despite her earsome teeth, she is said to be affectionate. Moving clockwise, shy-looking Xizi is actually confident for an Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis). Keene the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) ended up strangely interested in being photographed. Narnia is a rare white Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), which lack orange pigment because they have two copies of a recessive gene.
Narnia needed a lot of time to become at ease in front of the lens. Perou鈥檚 project aims to highlight the plight of the cats, many of which are under threat in the wild. The portraits are station until mid-January and are currently being .
