Animal House

Welcome toAnimal House, where occupancy is strictly limited to the furry, the feathered, the hoofed, and the clawed. In this tongue-in-cheek peek at critters great and small, photographer Catherine Ledner has brought the animals indoors to create a collection of magical and clever portraits unlike any you've ever seen before. Discover a series of brightly-colored rooms, lined with plush carpets and bold decorative wallpapers, each inhabited by a different creature. Here is the flirty flamingo posing her posterior quite purposely, the painfully shy armadillo who cannot even face the camera, the kindly cow mugging shamelessly for laughs, the turkey caught in the midst of his macho march, and dozens more. Die cuts featuring cutouts of keyholes, windows, and skylights provide teasing glimpses of what dwells behind the next door or curtain, and gatefolds reveal surprising neighbors--such as the sly fox sitting in wait on the other side of the unkowing hen's wall... Ledner's whimsical images are perfectly paired with a selection of sophisticated light verse, witticisms, and humorous poetry from the likes of Oliver Herford and Ogden Nash: "The Cow is of the bovine ilk, One end is moo, the other milk." What emerges is a marvelous fantasy world where the animals rule the roost and the turn of every page offers unexpected delights.

Catherine Ledner was born in New Orleans. After graduating from NYU with a degree in film, Ledner worked in television and as a studio manager for a New York City photographer before moving to Pasedena to study photography at Art Center College of Design where she graduated in 1994. Since then Ledner has worked with clients such as Bazaar, W, and New York Times Magazine, where she has been able to showcase her innovative style and ability to work well with subjects. She loves photographing all types of people--and animals--and revels in the experience of working in different environments. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband Kyle, her son Winston, and their dogs, Dodger and Little Bear.