The haunting animal portraits of the American Elliot Ross question our relation to other creatures and the ways we perceive the animal world, Manfred Zollner in fotoMAGAZIN. A portrait of his late cat, put up on a wall in his house by his wife, started to intrigue American artist Elliot Ross. The cat seemed to stare right at him. Ross wondered if the cat had consciously looked into the camera when the photo was taken. What the cat was thinking at that time. In what way the consciousness of an animal differed from that of a human being. In a quest to try and find the answers, Ross turned his thoughts and wonderings into a project: Animal. Around the world he portrayed animals and removed the surroundings at a later stage to give the portraits a more isolated and powerful character.