Switzerland-based photographer John Wilhelm has an amazing series of cleverly manipulated photographs, showing animals in all manner of fantastic poses and scenarios.
Through the power of carefully composed shots, digital trickery, and a whole lot of imagination, Wilheim transforms ordinary images into stunning portraits.
One particularly striking image shows a hippopotamus preparing to prey on an unsuspecting fish while an alternate image shows the same animal leaping out of the water to chow down on some bubbles.
According to Wilhelm, he noticed that the water splashes in the air were similar to bubbles underwater and flipped the image upside down to visualize it, which led to him creating the second picture of the fish-eating hippo.
His highly-stylized shots have caught the attention of users on the photography site 500px, who are divided into fans and critics. Wilheim said, “I can understand people being annoyed by the attention these images get. People who travel all around the world to gather a nice shot while Photoshoppers like me just go to the zoo :) But I do what I do because I absolutely love it and not to annoy serious National Geographic photographers. I think the most important thing is to be honest. I don’t want to fool anybody. I just have to do it because it’s my way to live my creativity.”
View more of Wilhelm’s photographs below.
[via My Modern Met, images via John Wilhelm]