Fairytale, enchanted land, the land of the princess and the beasts – These are the few words that flit through your mind as you look at the pictures of real animals and entrancing girls clicked by Katerina Plotnikova.

These pictures are not photoshopped. All of these pictures were taken with two professional trainers on hand at all times. This dreamy, surreal picture transports you to the magical wonderland of your childhood.

In Moscow-based photographer Katerina Plotnikova‘s own words , they are “tales from wonderland.” Indeed, they are, these pictures evoke the mythical fables that we grow up with, it brings to life the legends of animal’s being our friend, guide, and mentor of life. The perfect innocence of the princess is matched by the gentle beastliness of the animals. They are other worldly, it invokes a wave of intense longing, a yearning to be part of this fantasy.

The young girl in blue lying amidst the green grass with an orange snake trailing over her face reminds us of Sleeping beauty. But where the original pictures drew an animated but lacklustre sleeping beauty, this beauty is ‘alive’. The scenes or the stage setting has something ethereal in it, a liveliness to the canvas enhances the effect of the photos.

Another picture of a dainty woman standing close to the gentle giant, Elephant conjures the vision of Eden, a perfect sanctuary where men and beasts co-existed in complete harmony and peace.

These are not everyday photos that you look at and forget in few minutes or hours. These are haunting, it captivates you and makes you its prisoner. There is a calm in the wilderness that soothes the bruised soul. The serenity of the scene is a balm that soothes the frayed nerves. Plotnikova’s pictures throw the doors of imagination and wonder wide open. The jaded cynicism just gets washed over by the mystical water’s of the wonderland.

These photographs offers an escape to tranquility, away from the hectic and noisy modern world.