Yana Wernicke

In her series Companions (Weggefährten), Yana Wernicke reflects on humanity’s growing desire for a deeper connection with the natural world. The work follows two young women, Rosina and Julie, who have each formed profound relationships with animals. Independently, they rescue animals from certain death and build bonds of love, trust, and companionship with those that are often valued only for their economic purpose.

The German title Weggefährten translates literally as “those who walk the path together,” capturing the spirit of these interspecies relationships. Through moments of tenderness, touch, intuition, and play, Wernicke’s camera traces the shared lives of humans and animals, revealing connections built on mutual care and understanding. In doing so, the work invites viewers to reconsider the emotional worlds of the animals we live alongside and the relationships we form with them.

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Yana Wernicke (*1990) is a German photographer based near Frankfurt am Main. Her work often revolves around the photographic depiction of animals and humankind’s relationship to nature and other beings.

In collaboration with the photographer Jonas Feige, she worked on the project Zenker, which addresses the history of German colonialism in Cameroon. A book of the project was published by Edition Patrick Frey in 2021.

In 2023 she published her book Companions with Loose Joints, a portrait of two young women who have established profound relationships with animals and an exploration of the ideas of species loneliness and interspecies relationships.