Tame & Wild Studio

'I wouldn’t go so far as to say rock stars are animals’ says Tame & Wild Studio founder Peter Sharp, 'but when you’ve spent as much time photographing them as I have, you do begin to notice some similarities. Those wild manes, the snarling teeth, the latent energy, and the way they prowl about the stage like a captive tiger.'

Sharp began photography after a debilitating spinal condition left him with chronic pain, ending his sales and marketing career. As he recovered from surgery and learned to deal with his new reality, he picked up his camera. It gave him something to do, and he learned that he loved shooting musicians, capturing the explosive, primal feeling of a live show and the charisma of performers such as Lorde, Bon Iver, The Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, and Florence and the Machine.

He's a music buff, and shooting musos made him a better photographer very quickly.

'You have just three songs to capture their essence, with no control over the light, subject, colours, environment, and other people’.

He relished that challenge, and was good at it, gaining solid work and respect in the industry. But while on a month-long trip to Africa in the summer of 2015, Sharp realised that his lifelong love of animals could translate to something more as well.

Enter Tame & Wild Studio, which captures the colour and personality of the animals we share our lives with. One day, Sharp will travel the world as a nature photographer, focused on telling conservation stories. "But right now, I want to bring out a little rock star in us all."

Incorporated in this page is Peter Sharp's personal project. ‘Pet Rock’ and is a series of images created when three areas of passion come together: photography, music and animals.

This project aims to capture the energy, drama, colour and vibrancy evident in live music performance and apply this to animals in a unique way. As such, we ask the owner of each pet to provide the name of a song and some lyrics that they feel describes the personality of their 'fur baby'.

‘Pet Rock’ is a tribute to the awesome pets that are owned and loved by so many.