Фотограф Михаил Киракосян

We Are Like You

Russian photographer Mikhail Kirakosyan created the series "We Are Like You" in order to once again draw public attention to the problem of extermination and exploitation of animals. The photo project demonstrates the similarity of the inhabitants of the Moscow Zoo with people, the ability of animals to experience emotions and feelings inherent in each person, to experience and think.

The author's works were highly appreciated by professionals and amateurs all over the world, and today exhibitions of photographs of animals from the series "We are like you" are open in 20 different cities around the world.

«We Are Like You» — MORE THAN A PHOTO

The We Are Like You project is not just another photo of animals. This is the interpretation of the author of works Charles Darwin, who wrote in 1872 the landmark book "Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals", in which he proved that humans and animals really have a lot in common in the external expressions of emotional states.

The photo project itself became possible due to the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the closure of the Moscow Zoo for visits for the first time in 156 years. Isolation allowed the author to concentrate on animals, on their behavior, emotions, feelings and reactions to surrounding phenomena. Mikhail was able to capture in the lens those moments when the animals were as similar to humans as possible, and forever capture them in the frame using the classic portrait technique.

This kind of work is unwittingly exciting, despite the enormous complexity. Catching a moment when an animal unfolds in its natural environment is more difficult than taking a good shot with a person. The author had to spend long hours at individual enclosures, but the result was worth all the efforts, and now the world photography fund has added a lot of magnificent works showing the temperament, mood, character of animals in every look, facial expressions and eyes.

Photo project about animals "We are like you" - a professional expression in the frame of feelings and emotions of "models", their joy and fear, sadness and surprise.