One morning, German photographer Julia Marie Werner found a scruffy dog, hunting for food in the garbage bins outside her temporary home in Spain. One look in his eyes, Werner realized she couldn’t leave him behind: His earnest eyes even reminded her of Simba from the Lion King. She brought him back to Germany and named him Tschikko Leopold von Werner. The photographer surmised that he must have been thrown from a car and abandoned in Spain, so now she wanted to give him the best life possible. The pup loves to explore with her, which gave Werner the idea to let him be the star of her photos. In order to pay homage to his lion-like nature, Werner created a project based around Tschikko wearing a lion’s mane, traveling around the city. She calls the project GROSSSTADTLÖWE, which translates to “Big City Lion.” The images almost seem to tell a story, one that’s full of magic and with an inquisitive, brave, and incredibly adorable lion-dog at its center. See them below.
