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Few people get a chance to photograph animals such as hippos, hyenas, or crocodiles. Suren Manvelyan, however, has managed to get so close to them, he even captured insanely detailed close-ups of their eyes.

Some of these macro shots look like landscapes of distant yet-to-be-discovered planets while others remind some sort of a portal to another dimension. But they all prove that the eyes really are the windows to the soul; analyzing the images you can't help but experience profound sensations, as if you're uncovering deeply personal secrets.

More info: surenmanvelyan.comFacebook | Instagram

"I began thinking about this series after I completed a similar one about the human eye," Manvelyan told Bored Panda. "After the first project, I had really improved in shooting eyes in any conditions, and eventually settled on the idea to photograph animal eyes."

Manvelyan captured animals pretty much everywhere he could find them, from his backyard to zoos, oceanariums, and so on. "Sometimes, people even contact me, asking to shoot the eyes of their pets."

"The eyes of every animal is the result of it adapting to its living conditions. That's the reason why there are so many eye types. Water animals have completely different eyes than those living on earth, too. I think this is what makes the animal eye series so interesting to the viewer."

Manvelyan also started a game with his online followers. When he would upload a new photo, he'd ask his Facebook and Instagram fans to guess what species the eye belongs to. "Interestingly, it can become quite a tough challenge."

Being so close to animals, however, is a challenge of its own. For example, Manvelyan spent an hour with a llama in her cage, trying to make her familiar with him and to allow him to get within the required distance for the right shot. "I would like to stress that all animals included in the series were alive and no animal was hurt in any way during shoots," the photographer added.

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He wouldn't disclose any technical aspects of these shoots as he spent a lot of time and effort perfecting the setup for this particular series, but said the most interesting part of it all was realizing that nearly all people have the same eye structure. "It doesn't matter if you are young or old, white or black."

#4

Long-Eared Owl

Long-Eared Owl

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Marissa Wyatt
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

wow, the texture on the eyes looks strange. this is so beautiful and i appreciate the person that took these greatly.

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#6

Nylus Crocodile

Nylus Crocodile

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Steve Barnett
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"You do realise how close you are to me?" Says the Crocodile.

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Monika Soffronow
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, sir, that is not what I want to be the last thing I will ever see.

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Rcatheron
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I read somewhere that some predator animals had vertical pupils, where some prey animals had horizontal. I guess it's true in this guy's case.

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Tracy Flavelle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Stunning colour and looks like a pic of the surface of a swamp covered with water plants. Stunning!

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Pandasrule
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

how did he even take the photo so hood and by not getting killed

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Pandasrule
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

how did he even take the photo so good and not getting killed

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Jan Wooden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Kudos to the photographer for getting close enough for a picture of a crocodile! Must have been tricky!

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Ry Keener
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder how far it can dilate when it's in deep dark water.

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#13

Ray

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Black Rabbit

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#22

Blue Crayfish

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Darwinist
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's a compound eye or many eyes put together. It allows for vision in multiple spectrums but has poor vision quality.

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#24

Husky Dog

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Denise Mclean
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nice Eye, looks like a planet with some kind of burst or radiation all around it .

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#25

Armenian Muflon

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#26

Coral Zebra Fish

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#28

Tiger Python (Non Albino)

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Ninja Kitty
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

HOW DID YOU GET SO CLOSE TO THIS BEAUTIFUL TIGER PYTHON WITHOUT IT HURTING YOU -cough- but that's a really Cool looking eye

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#30

David's Deer

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#33

Snail

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Horse

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Lark

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Caiman

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Owl

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Basiliscus Lizard

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#42

Garden Tree Boa

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Siam Cat

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Scyth
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a little weird. Maybe it looks like that because it is distorted by the refraction.

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#46

Black Kite

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#47

British Short Hair Cat

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#49

Lobster

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#51

Tiger Python (Albino)

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#52

Rabbit

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Fish

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#54

Camerunian Goat

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Scorpionfish

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#56

Red-Eared Turtle

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#57

Stork

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#58

Lionfish

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#59

Fish

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#60

Pekines Dog

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#62

Monkey

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Lemur Catta

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Stingray

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Tockus Bird

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Iguana

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Fenneck

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Lemur

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#74

Snake: The Garden Boa

Snake: The Garden Boa

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