I am Robert Bahou, PHOTOGRAPHER AND FILMMAKER
Much of my photographic sensibility draws from my experience growing up in Jordan, a country imposed by majesty and humbling nature. I spent my summers in the south of the Netherlands, cyclically refreshing my palette and reminding me to look upon my native environment with fresh eyes.
It is no secret that I am drawn to animals. I find that animals exhibit a truth uncommon in photographs of humans. A truth that can only exist if the camera's presence is unknown, or in the case of animals, not understood. Animals don't adjust themselves for a photograph the way people do, leaving them sharing a honest portion of who they are with the camera.
I’ve found that by eliminating all distractions and sense of place within my photographs, the viewer is left to confront the animals as they are, rather than as we perceive them to be. I suppose you could say that I’m simply removing the variables that could otherwise cloud interpretation.
Over the years I’ve received many comments about how ‘human’ the animals in my photographs feel. It is inevitable that we view the world through human eyes and human interpretation. My hope is that my images can cast mirrors upon us, as a means of reminding ourselves that we share this world with creatures that we’re hardly beginning to truly understand.
