Serpens Rectangle Snakes – Why’d It Have to be Snakes?

I’ve always found snakes to be stunningly gorgeous creatures, but I can understand some people’s inherent fear of them. More often than not, photography of the reptiles shows them striking and eating, or haphazardly coiled and looped nonchalantly in their native habitats. In general, it’s easy to view serpents as hunters first and as disarmingly beautiful second (or ten millionth, for some people.) Guido Mocafico has created a photo series of rectangle snakes that allows you to look at these fantastic animals as art. 

Serpens Rectangle Snakes – ALL THESE MOTHEREFFING SNAKES ON MY MOTHEREFFING PAGE

It sounds silly, but there isn’t really any other way to describe these pictures other than rectangle snakes: Mocafico Serpens is an incredible series of fifty three photos where he has carefully arranged the snakes in a box, lending them a geometric shape. Taking the photos from above with lighting that highlights glistening scales and cranial features, each shot pops off a plain black background. Snakes tend to be thought of as one of the most fluid creatures on the planet in terms of movement, and like a liquid, they almost take the shape of the container they’ve been put in. It changes the things you notice about them immediately, and you spend more time mentally untangling them than being creeped out. I’ve always known that there are hundreds of species out there in brilliant colors and with distinctive markings, but I’ve never spent so much time admiring these things. Mocafico’s simple photography takes the snake out of the terrifying context that many of us ascribe our fears to.

I highly recommend you spend time browsing Mocafico’s site– his work gives many items that some people find unsettling this treatment. You’ll find gorgeous photos of spiders, guns, and absolutely breathtaking shots of jellyfish that are worth taking the time to look through. There are a LOT of photos here… I had a really hard time choosing my favorites. You can click any of the shots for a higher res version.