Interview With Fine Art Animal Photographer Tim Flach

World-renowned animal photographer Tim Flach is known for his artistic studio portraits of animals.

His photographic style has been described as “the perfect antithesis to anthropomorphism” and he employs the artistic technique of defamiliarisation in many of his studio portraits, creating deliberately ambiguous close-ups, which present the subject at unusual angles in order to provoke questions from the viewer.”

He is also the author of five successful books, including ‘Equus’ in 2008, ‘Dog Gods’ in 2010, the highly acclaimed ‘More than Human’ in 2012, ‘Evolution’ in 2013 and just recently ‘Endangered’ which concentrates on animals that face extinction through critical circumstances in their habitat, natural changes and manmade influences.

Tim joined Karl in the studio to talk about his career, explore the concepts of anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism as well as how we, as humans, project emotion onto our subject.

With wonderful openness and charm, Tim shares some of his funnier encounters and provides unique insight into many of the shots in his latest book, ‘Endangered’. This fascinating talk is a much watch for anyone interested in animal photography (and even those who aren’t).

Topics covered in this live photography talk show:

  • The concepts of anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism
  • How people transform pictures into meaning
  • The human visual response to colour
  • The photographic medium as a tool in conservation
  • Suitable lighting modifiers for photographing animals
  • Modifying light sources for smaller animals
  • Shooting and preparing photographs for publication and printing

Links:
https://timflach.com/
https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/endangered_9781419726514/

You may also be interested in watching our ‘Conversations with Tim Flach’ live show.

©Tim Flach

Comments

  1. Thank you for introducing me to the work of Tim Flach. I’d seen a couple of his images before but didn’t know who had taken them or what his body of work looked like. As far as I am concerned, the quality is right up there with Annie Liebowitz, and all the more amazing because of the type of subjects he shoots.

    AP

    1. Yes Tim’s work is right up there. He’ll be joining me a again for a live chat here on the 22nd of April if you want to ask him any questions – see the live shows schedule.

  3. Thank you Karl Taylor, Tim Flach and KTE Team. Unfortunatlel
    y, I’ve missed the live show.. very nice to see the sensibility and the effort of Tim Flach concerning our endangered species!

  4. ksporry

    Thank you KTE and Tim Flach, this was a very inspiring show.
    I’ve been thinking about doing some animal shoots myself for charity. For example, pets in compounds should get a fancy portrait to show their beauty, so hopefully they get adopted faster, or with zoos to retrieve that connection Tim talked about in the show.

  6. Tim certainly cares for the animals and this was portrayed in the program. I very much enjoyed the talk

    I have always been interested in this type of photography, but just have enough knowledge on this subject, as Tim said start researching

  7. I am so glad you put up the live programs for replay as our time zones don’t usually match up. In the beginning of this show, I didn’t really know how I felt about animals being brought into a studio with the flashes for a picture. After listening to Tim, I realized how much he cared about these animals and how much cautious he took to make them comfortable. I have a whole different perspective about seeing the world around me now. Even though I practice mindful awareness, I think watching this show created a shift in my thinking and attention I give to Mother Nature in my busy life.

  8. Absolutely amazing, I unfortunately did not see this live but I am so glad I was able to see the replay. Karl thank you so very much and Tim thank you for sharing your work and passion with us. Just purchase a copy of your book and can’t wait to receive it.

  12. I missed the live but ust finished watching the video now, very interesting questions. Really good watch.
    I wonder if memebers would benefit from a discount to get hold of Tim Fach’s book
    Thank you

  14. Thank you Karl & team for this talk show. I found it very inspiring. It is always interesting to see how seasoned professional photographers expand, adapt and find new ways of telling a story and evoking emotions with the smart and calculated use of light (and sometimes well thought post-processing)! Thank you again.

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