Alan Schaller's 'Street Safari' Captures Animals as Bridges to Humanity

Photographer Alan Schaller has released his second book, 'Street Safari,' published by Irys Publishing. The monograph features his signature black-and-white, high-contrast street photography but shifts focus from urban isolation—the theme of his first book 'Metropolis'—to animals encountered on the street. Schaller explains that photographing animals often facilitates human connection, citing an instance in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco, where photographing stray cats led to a local playing violin for him and eventually allowing portraits. He notes that in London, asking to photograph someone's dog yields a 90% yes rate versus 10% for a person. Pigeons are among his favorite subjects, and he cites Elliott Erwitt as an inspiration for incorporating humor. Schaller launched Irys, a photo-centric platform, in response to big tech's pivot to video; 'Street Safari' is Irys Publishing's first title. He aims to disrupt traditional publishing models, where photographers often give up over 90% of royalties. The book is printed by an Italian supplier, and Schaller hopes it will be the first of three Irys titles this year. 'Street Safari' is available via the Irys Publishing website.