How the Others Might See

Exploring how other species may experience and navigate the world through radically different ways of seeing.

How the Others Might See is an experimental photography and visual research project exploring how different species may perceive and navigate the world around them.

Combining photography, ecology and speculative image-making, the work moves beyond human-centred vision to consider alternative ways of sensing landscape, light, colour and movement.

The sections below present selected explorations from the project.

Adaptation to horizons - Seabirds

Seabirds, such as seagulls, possess remarkable eyesight, which is a crucial adaptation for their survival. Their vision is highly specialised for life at sea and plays a key role in finding food, shelter, and mates.

Fovea

Seabirds possess a unique, strip-shaped fovea instead of the typical spot-like fovea found in many animals. The strip-like fovea allows seabirds to maintain a wide crisp view of the horizon while they are flying. This is crucial for detecting prey, predators, and other birds over a large area. The foveal strip extends the area of acute vision, unlike the more concentrated focus provided by a spot-like fovea in humans.

How seagulls might see the horizon with their specialised fovea

Adaptation to dark seas - Dogfish

The eyes and vision of dogfish, like other sharks, have several specialised adaptations that enhance their ability to survive and thrive in the marine environment. These adaptations help them locate prey, navigate their surroundings, and detect light in the often dim waters they inhabit.

Tapetum Lucidum

The tapetum lucidum is a layer of reflective cells located behind the retina. It acts like a mirror, reflecting light back through the retina a second time. This increases the light available to the photoreceptors, enhancing vision in low-light conditions. It’s the reason why dogfish and other sharks’ eyes can appear to glow in the dark when light shines on them.In the ocean’s depths or turbid coastal waters where light penetration is minimal, the tapetum lucidum is invaluable for enhancing vision. It allows dogfish and other marine predators to detect prey, navigate their environment, and avoid obstacles or predators in conditions where light is scarce.The improved vision afforded by the tapetum lucidum gives dogfish a significant advantage when hunting. It enables them to see the silhouette of prey above them against the faint light from the surface.

How dogfish might see the horizon with their specialised tapetum lucidum

Adaptation to night and day - Foxes

Foxes, like many other nocturnal or crepuscular animals, have eyes that are highly adapted for survival in varying light conditions. These adaptations enhance their ability to hunt and navigate their environment effectively during the night as well as the daytime.

Vertical Slit Pupils

The pupils of foxes are vertical slits, which can close to a very narrow slit in bright light. This adaptation provides them with sharp, contrast-rich vision in low-light conditions, enabling them to detect the slightest movements of prey in the underbrush or the subtle rustle of leaves in the twilight. Moreover, the shape of these pupils helps in accurately gauging distance, crucial for a predator that relies on stealth and precision to ambush its prey, making a fox perfectly attuned to its environment.

How foxes might see the landscape during the day and at night, with specialised slit pupils and other vision adaptations.

Adaptation to degree of sight - Flies

Flies, including the common housefly and other species, have evolved a range of adaptations that help them survive and thrive in various environments. These adaptations cover everything from feeding and breeding to avoiding predators.

Compound Eyes

Flies possess remarkable compound eyes, offering wide-angle vision through thousands of tiny lenses, or ommatidia. This wide-angle, multifaceted vision enables them to detect slight movements and evade predators with amazing agility. Each ommatidium captures a fragment of the environment, allowing flies to quickly process visual cues and navigate through complex surroundings. This advanced visual system is crucial for their survival, facilitating intricate flight manoeuvres and adaptability to varying light conditions and diverse habitats.

How flies might see their world with their specialised compound eyes.

Project Background - Why see differently?

Human perception is shaped by our own evolutionary needs and priorities. We move through the world looking for shelter, food, safety and familiarity, often without considering how other species experience the same environments around us. This project emerged from thinking about how easily habitats are misunderstood or overlooked. A wild hedgerow may appear untidy to us, yet for countless species it provides shelter, food, navigation and protection. When these spaces are removed or heavily managed, entire ecosystems can quietly disappear with them. The thermal images below highlight how even a single tree can transform an environment, providing shade and reducing surrounding temperatures by several degrees. By attempting to imagine how other species sense and navigate the world, the project reflects on perception not as a fixed reality, but as something shaped by survival, environment and adaptation. Ultimately, understanding alternative ways of seeing can deepen ecological awareness and encourage a more careful relationship with the landscapes we share.

Get in Touch

For more background on this project and the research outputs, get in touch.