Toño García

We met Toño during a visit in the Sierra de Francia, a chain of lower mountains (that have nothing to do with France) in Extremadura, a bit in the South of Salamanca.

Toño is a fantastic photographer, principally of reptiles & amphibians - lizards, frogs, snakes, lot of snakes, salamanders - but occasionally photographs insects and spiders or other wildlife as well.

We had the opportunity to exchange about his practice, as people that like photography but quite frankly don't know anything about professional nor animal photography, outside of what you see in BBC documentaries.

And what he had to teach us is quite fascinating, honestly : he is quite active, for instance, in contrast with bird photographers for example, which tend to hide and wait in particular spots. No, Toño would go on hikes and lift every single stone on his way in the hopes to find a snake - quite the opposite from most of us.

He works voluntarily with universities and other wildlife institutions, helps document areas or gives away some of his incredible photographs for references or illustrations. His pictures are bluffing, and it's not only a quality of image thing. His style is purposefully placing the animals he encounters in their natural environment. You feel their personalities, you feel the atmosphere, you feel the life.

We recommend you to have a look at his work, it's truly impressive.

You can find him on instagram @tgwildphoto ! Say hi from us !