Yusuke_Sakai_11Reticulated giraffe 

Yusuke_Sakai_14African elephant 

For Skin, photographer Yusuke Sakai hones in on the flesh of animals, capturing the minute details of species ranging from the calloused white rhinoceros to the downy king penguin. Happening across a photograph of the belly of an elephant, the artist was struck by the uncanny vantage point, finding the patterns of the skin both recognizable and utterly foreign. In a search to recreate that sense of wonderment, he began visiting zoo animals and photographing their skin, feathers, and fur at close range.

Gazing with reverence upon each animal, he distills their innate animalness into two-dimensional templates, with each wrinkle, mark, and scar alluding to histories both personal to the individual creature and significant to the species. Fixed within a rectangular frame, the animals become formless, removed from the context of the body and simplified into delicate markings and nuanced colors. Here, we become simultaneously alienated from the familiar notion of each animal and more intimately acquainted with them, invited to gaze upon their tender and exposed hyde.

Yusuke_Sakai_15Asiatic black bear

Yusuke_Sakai_03White bear 

Yusuke_Sakai_05

African flamingo

Yusuke_Sakai_16Chinese pony 

Yusuke_Sakai_12Goat 

Yusuke_Sakai_02Zebra 

Yusuke_Sakai_07Bactrian camel 

Yusuke_Sakai_08Hippopotamus 

Yusuke_Sakai_06Ruddy shelduck 

Yusuke_Sakai_01King penguin

Yusuke_Sakai_04White rhinoceros

Yusuke_Sakai_09Japanese deer 

Yusuke_Sakai_10Emu 

Yusuke_Sakai_13Goat 

All images © Yusuke Sakai

via Lensculture