Deer Diary: Trail Cams Capture ‘Spiritual Self-Portraits’ of Deer

Lauren Grabelle describes her photography as within “the matrix where fine art and documentary meet.” She recently used trail cameras to capture clips of deer in Montana, and then she compiled them into a compelling mini-documentary called Deer Diary.

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Grabelle’s three-and-a-half-minute documentary showcases the deer in an almost-ethereal light. She likens the trail-cam footage to “spiritual self-portraits” and praises the cams’ ability to let the animals “tell their own story.”

[RELATED: Wildlife Officials Capture Image of Rare Ghost White Deer]

“Deer Diary is a continuation of my searching for that place where fine art, documentary, and wildlife photography meet in the Montana landscape,” Grabelle wrote in her video description. “[. . .] I chose a trail camera as my portal: the deer themselves became my collaborators by their diurnal and nocturnal movements through the landscape. Setting up the trail cam in places where their movements are already written into the earth via game trails and bent fence lines, I am able to capture these neighbors and creatures as they traverse the landscape and tell their own story.”

Watch Grabelle’s Deer Diary here:

Header stock image by John Webb/Getty Images

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