30 Beautiful Photos Capturing The Magical Bond Between Humans And Animals By Anastasiya Dobrovolskaya

There's a special bond between humans and animals - and there's hardly anyone out there who can capture it better than Russian photographer Anastasiya Dobrovolskaya. The photographer takes fairytale-like photos of humans posing with animals, and her work looks absolutely magical. In a recent interview with Bored Panda, Anastasiya said she's inspired by both people and animals. She says that the main goal of her work is to show their uniqueness, emphasizing their external and internal beauty and individuality. "I try to achieve this mainly by comparing their appearance. For example, I like to photograph people with albinism with white animals, redhead people with animals that have red fur, and so on," explained the photographer. Anastasiya says that one of the most rewarding things about working with animals is that they fill one's life with something very kind and real. "All their actions and emotions are genuine. Before I started taking photos with animals, I had no idea that there could be such a close connection between humans and animals," explained the photographer. "It is still surprising to me that 'wild' animals can experience such strong affection and trust in humans." More info: Instagram | en.dobrovolskaia.com | Facebook

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Image source: anastasiya_dobrovolskaya Some people were concerned about the animals' safety but Anastasiya explained that only animals with a certain character are selected for the photoshoots, and they're completely comfortable with it. "Many people who see my works believe that the animals are on drugs, that their teeth are pulled out, and so on. And I understand that such thoughts are born for a reason. But sometimes when animals are adopted by people, they become part of their families and their lives," explained the photographer. "Almost all large animals live in the countryside, in spacious areas, in specially equipped enclosures with regular walking. Each animal feeds on the basis of its species. For example, owls eat mice, tigers eat raw meat, Stepan the bear loves condensed milk." She also added that in most cases, the animals are rescued from poor conditions, fur factories, or were simply abandoned by their owners, meaning that they were born in captivity and simply couldn't survive in nature by themselves.

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Image source: anastasiya_dobrovolskaya Anastasiya has been taking these magical photos since the spring of 2018, and has amassed a following of nearly 200k people from all over the world across various social media platforms since then. "Every day I receive a huge number of very kind and sincere messages. People write that they dream to get to know me personally, dream of taking part in my shootings, invite me to visit their countries," said the photographer. "Sometimes it seems to me that I am dreaming all this because even 1.5 years ago, I was an ordinary employee of a research institute and was engaged in photography only on weekends." See more of Anastasiya's stunning portraits below!

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