There’s no need to suspend your disbelief when viewing these stunning photographs – the exquisite images aren’t the work of Photoshop, but real-life interactions between humans and animals.

 Russian photographer Katerina Plotnikova captured the breath-taking scenes with the help of two professional animal experts.

Evoking a mythical, fairy-tale world, the images transport the viewer to a place outside of space and time. They are, in Ms Plotnikova’s own words, “another tale about wonderland”.

In one an auburn-haired young woman holds out her hand to a grizzly bear, as though the majestic creature is asking her to dance.


In another image a young woman is seen embracing an elephant amid still waters, while one girl is depicted tenderly holding a fox.


Gentle and serene, the surreal photographs are a world away from modern life and a perpetually “switched-on” digital world. The young photographer, whose work we have previously featured with elk, bears, and elephants as her wild models, just continues to impress with her depictions of a surreal wonderland where woman and animal commune in harmony.