A Facade of Calmness

Photographer

Jiahan Lyu

Category

Fine Art Photography - Wildlife

Company

Duke University

Submission Group

Student

Year

2025

Country / Region:

United States

What you see is the typical calmness and elegance of a sleeping owl. What you don’t see is the countless kids pushing their faces against the protective glass of the display box in the North Carolina Aquarium, trying to wake the screech owl up. The owl’s still posture is, in fact, protective. Sometimes, in response to overwhelming human pressure, nature disguises itself under a facade of calmness. And humans just push harder…