follow lauren & fluffy in juan osorio’s friendship photography series

follow lauren & fluffy in juan osorio’s friendship photography series
all images courtesy of juan osorio

filial imprinting is a psychological phenomenon in which young animals acquire various behavioral characteristics from their parents. this occurs in a time-sensitive phase after birth, and can be seen by the unwavering attachment of the young to their ‘parent’; which, sometimes humorously, is not even of the same species.

playing around 

photographer juan osorio stumbled upon the idea of imprinting after watching a short documentary that followed ornithologist christian moullec and his quirky, adorable, life-long relationship with goslings. osorio then wondered what would happen if a duckling was exposed to a competitive swimmer? luckily, he had everything he needed to find out.

speedy 

the ‘friendship’ series, follows osorio’s faithful friend and ex-swimmer lauren, as she bonds in the water with a little puff-ball known only as ‘fluffy‘. taken from an angle that blends surface and underwater, the images give viewers an up-close perspective on the dynamic, and undeniably cute relationship of human and animal. 

how many laps coach?  

can’t contain the excitement 

lauren and fluffy

in motion 

head or island? 

diving under  

lauren and fluffy

waiting for the green light   

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions  feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.