This Amelia and the Animals Photo Series Demonstrates a True Mother-Daughter Bond

Just call Amelia Forman the animal whisperer — or better yet, call her mom that. Robin Schwartz has been photographing her daughter, Amelia, since she was 3 years old. But unlike other moms who snap away as their tots go about their daily routines, Robin creates one-of-a-kind environments that document her daughter's amazingly beautiful connection with animals. An award-winning photographer and professor of the arts at New Jersey's William Paterson University, Robin has taken portraits of Amelia with elephants, llamas, ponies, tigers, kangaroos, chimpanzees, and more. But the animals aren't just background in the photos, they share the spotlight with Amelia and create an almost dreamlike feel to the photos like nothing we've seen before.

The mother-daughter journey is now documented in a book, Amelia & The Animals ($40), which was printed thanks to a Kickstarter campaign that was successfully funded in just a few days. Read on to see some highlights from the collection, and tell us if the photos don't take you away to a magical place.