Wo die Liebe Hinfliegt by Tanja Brandt

I rarely - make that practically never - buy photo books. Sure, they have some nice pictures in them - but nice pictures are a dime a dozen and the material quite simply lacks staying power.

When I saw Tanja Brandt's photos on Facebook[a], though, I placed an order for two of her books. The photos of the friendship between a little owl and a dog were just magic.

Wo die Liebe hinfliegt
Tanja Brandt

ISBN: 9783431039696
Bastei Lübbe, 2016
German

Calling the book heartwarming is an understatement. Not only because some photos are positively heart-melting, but also because Tanja has an amazing grasp of composition and lighting which makes this an art book and not just a stack of cute animal photos. She captures a view into a magic wonderland. (5/5)

These are all staged photos and Tanja owns the animals she photographs. Therefore there is always the question if what you see is the animal, or whether it's a diorama where the photographer has posed the animal like a prop.

But even if it's not "wildlife photography", the scenes are what I'd imagine owls and dogs would do if they knew each other and were left on their own: Ingo the dog is playful in the way dogs are, while Poldi the little owl seems to alternate between wonder at the big dog and uncertainty about what the excited mammal actually wants.

Calling the book heartwarming is an understatement. Not only because some photos are positively heart-melting, but also because Tanja has an amazing grasp of composition and lighting which makes this an art book and not just a stack of cute animal photos. She captures a view into a magic wonderland.

The book is in German, but the text isn't needed to understand or enjoy the photos. (Although it'll give you a good way to learn German - Tanja writes in a very accessible way.)

...and at only 15 euro it is pretty much a dime for a dozen of these fantastic views which do have staying power - so I'd recommend you go for a twofer and pick up the sequel Liebe verfliegt nicht as well.