Words by Jack Fletcher
Pictures by Simon De Glanville / Barcroft Media

Staring inquisitively into the lens these amazing pictures put
London’s wildlife in a whole new perspective.

Using chips, bread, kebabs and even curries, photographer Simon De
Glanville gets up close and personal with the great and the good of
London’s parks and backstreets.

For full story and pictures:

Starting out a homage to the London pigeon this long running
photography study includes geese, squirrels and dogs.

“Although much maligned and mostly hated by the majority of the
populace I find that pigeons never fail to cheer me up,” says 31-year-
old Simon from Peckham, South London.

“Despite spending much of my time in far flung locations filming
animals in the wild, I derive a large amount of pleasure watching
pigeons going about their business, almost unnoticed, on the streets
of London.”

Simon, who trained as a Zoologist before taking up photography 12
years ago now works as a wildlife cameraman travelling the world
shooting documentaries.

However when he is not travelling the globe, Simon often spend hours
at a time snapping the local talent near his south London home.

“Most of the images were taken in parks around Peckham, Brixton and in
the backstreets of Chinatown,” he says.

“I wanted to create a set of images that would present the Pigeon in a
new and striking way in the hope that it might capture peoples’
imagination and perhaps raise their appreciation of them.

“People tend to be very interested in the lives of animals on the
other side of the planet, but we often tend to overlook the
interesting behaviour happening on our doorsteps.”

Crouching, kneeling or even lying on the ground, Simon uses an old
Soviet fisheye lens from Belarus to give these images a unique
perspective.

“I try and entice the pigeons with bread, but they are very wary of
the flash system, which is a relatively sophisticated studio set up,”
he explains.

“I’ve learnt to recognise the point that their desire for bread
overcomes their fear of the equipment and capitalise on that.

“I’m pretty sure you can only do it with London pigeons as they tend
to be a bit more blasé.”

And even though Simon’s initial subject was the famous London pigeon,
he soon found other animals to photograph.

“The work was always supposed to be about pigeons, but over the years
other animals have tried to get in on the act,” he says.

“Someone’s dog will come along and eat the bait or a goose will muscle
in, so I ended up photographing them too.

“That gave me the idea to broaden out the scope of the project to
include all London wildlife.”

Now focusing on foxes and crows, Simon is utilising new technologies
to capture London’s wildlife.

“I’m currently working on getting shots of Foxes in Peckham,” he says.

“I set up the camera disguised in a rubbish bag and leave out some bait.

“I then spend the rest of the night standing by with a 20 metre cable
release waiting for my moment and trying not to get mugged.

“I’ve been a bit unlucky with it but I think I’m getting close to
success. I’m also working on crows, although I’m almost convinced it
is impossible to get them that close to the camera.”

However it appears that even the crows and pigeons have become wise to
Simon’s tactics.

“I’m also working on crows, although I’m almost convinced it is
impossible to get them that close to the camera,” he says.

“They always seem to understand exactly what I’m up to and treat me
with the utmost suspicion.

“I think it’s unlikely to work, but I still go out to Burgess park
once or twice a week
with a kebab or some fried chicken to try.

“Problem is, now the pigeons know me so well they always muscle in on
the act and scare the crows away, which is frustrating in it’s irony.”

Related posts:

• Spirit Bear Snapped It may look like a polar bear that has...
• Get Your Car Cleaned At The Elephant Car Wash A wildlife park is battling through the economic crisis...
• Artist Emma Hack Loves Making Women Disappear Disappearing into the background these stunning images are a...
• Eyes Of The Tiger Staring into the lens these majestic tigers are a...
• Orphan Baby Wombats Baby wombats Karina and Riley need to be wrapped...
• Enjoy A Round Of Golf With Wild Foxes These fantastic foxes think they are Tiger Woods as...
• Swimming With Polar Bears Fancy a dip? Well if you decide to take the...
• Extraordinary Orangutan Swimming Photos These incredible pictures of orangutans swimming in an Indonesian...