We have a hunch that, just like us, many of you have fallen in Internet luuurve with Etsy.com, and pawed through all the impossibly cute pages of photographs, jewelry and adorable pet gear that the arts-and-crafts site sells. The marketplace's stylish pet goods are so adorably perfect for our favorite furballs and their owners, that we've decided to spotlight an Etsy find on PEOPLEPets.com every week.
To kick it off, meet the wildly beautiful, and surprisingly stark, one-of-a-kind animal portraits by Sharon Montrose. Dogs, bunnies, chickens – if it barks, hops or chirps, it's there! "I've been specializing in animals for a long time and I shoot for pet food company[s] – animals have always kinda been my thing," says Montrose, who by day works as a commercial photographer.
She first adapted her signature style when a baby goat scuttled onto some distressed wood flooring in 2007. "One day we were shooting a job and one of the trainers I work with had a baby goat there that she had just gotten for her property, and she let me take its picture," she says. "And that's kinda how it all started."
One baby goat led to more portraits of baboons, porcupines, macaws and llamas – which made us wonder, How does she get access to these unusual animals? "I don't work with zoos, they're all privately owned, some of them are from animal sanctuaries, rescue organizations," Montrose says.
Challenging as it may be to work with and photograph often large and unpredictable subjects ("the funniest stories are the bathroom stories," she says), Montrose relies on spontaneity to capture the perfect moment, not perfect posing. "I like to let them do their thing and I don't want them to be uncomfortable," she says. "I let them direct me."
Holding down two businesses wasn't the intended goal for Montrose, also a self-described "Etsy addict." But she opened her Esty shop in October 2008 not realizing that it would turn into a second full-time job. 3,561 sales later, that's exactly what she got – and she couldn't be happier.
Check out Montrose's Etsy shop for small prints (only $25!) and her full site for large limited edition prints.
See something on Etsy that you'd like us to profile in this weekly column? Send us an email at editors@peoplepets.com or leave a comment below.
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