How these two photographers got inside the minds of animals

Jasper Doest and Paolo Verzone were among the photographers who captured the rich inner lives of animals for National Geographic’s October cover story.

We know that dogs and cats can feel happy, stressed, grumpy, or scared—and dogs can even “catch” their owners’ emotions. But what about rats that show empathy or monkeys with a strong sense of self? The team behind National Geographic’s October feature story explores how a wide array of animals exhibit complex emotions similar to ours.

In addition to Vincent Lagrange’s cover image of a Canadian sphynx cat, National Geographic recruited several talented photographers to capture animal minds across the globe. We spoke to two of them, Jasper Doest and Paolo Verzone, for more about how they were able to photograph the “animal minds” of their subjects.

This month’s cover story explores the many

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