Powerful Portraits of Captive Creatures

Auckland, New Zealand-based photographer Cally Whitham takes artistic portraits of animals for her series titled Captive. The collection of images in the ongoing series presents wild creatures as attentive beings, calmly posing for the camera. From a gentle giraffe to a tame tiger, Whitham captures a vulnerable side to these animals that feels quite powerful and intriguingly human.

The photographer exposes something relatable in the facial expressions and posture of her wild subjects. Despite their physical movements being out of her direct control, Whitham manages to catch each animal with a humanized expression and romanticizes their portraits with minimal lighting. Through this series, the photographer seeks to draw a resemblance between animal and man, offering a human element in her subjects.















Cally Whitham website
Cally Whitham on Behance

Pinar

Pinar Noorata is the Managing Editor at My Modern Met. She is a writer, editor, and content creator based in Brooklyn, NY. She earned her BA in Film and Media Studies from CUNY Hunter College and is an alumni of the Center for Arts Education’s Career Development Program in NYC. She has worked at major TV, film, and publishing companies as well as other independent media businesses. When she isn’t writing, editing, or creating videos herself, Pinar enjoys watching movies, reading, crafting, drawing, and volunteering at her local animal shelter.
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