Passion Project - Adventures at the Zoo

When I was in college, I flooded my electives with art classes- including a film photography class. At that time, I was in awe of the photographers behind National Geographic. One photo, in particular, took my breath away. The photo was taken in 1988 by photographer, David Doubilet. It’s a photo of a man surrounded by a swarm of Barracuda in the Bismarck Sea.

Doubilet details the experience as a happenchance. He was taking underwater photos when a school of barracudas formed a circle around the naturalist that was scuba diving with Doubilet, and he snapped the photo. I thought- what an adventurous thing it would be to work with animals.

I think maybe in another life, I would very much love to be a wildlife photographer. In the meantime, I content myself with taking photos of the animals at the Nashville Zoo when I go with my son. He brings his own camera so we can snap photos together and share our art over cups of dipping dots when we get tired. We went on one of these excursions over the fall break, and I thought I’d share the photos here on the blog.

Pro-tip for my Alabama moms- Nashville city schools are on a different calendar. When we went to the zoo during my son’s fall break, it was pretty empty. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and all the animals were out.