London based photographer Andrew McGibbon had always thought that the common idea of snakes as the symbol of evil was just unfair.
"In Christian, Muslim, and Zulu traditions, you can trace the snake to a prominent story of evil," McGibbon told BuzzFeed News. "I think it deserves a second look."
With his photographic series "Slitherstition," The 33-year-old photographer looks to deconstruct the superstition around the snake, to remove the impulsive fear reaction and reveal how beautiful they really are.
"People project premeditated, murderous thoughts onto this animal because of thousands of years of superstition and symbolism."
"I don't think the hiss or slither really helps their case much," McGibbon admitted, "but they don't have any malicious intention, they are just trying to defend themselves."
"I myself am terrified of snakes," the photographer admitted. "But when I removed the danger aspect I was just in awe."
He said that in his native South Africa, whenever a snake is found it is instantly killed, less because of any actual danger but because it symbolizes evil and bad omens.
"Like the snake, people are often killed for false, superstitious beliefs, fear, and prejudice," McGibbon said. "Superstition at its worse is horribly destructive. With this project I wanted to destroy superstition."
McGibbon has been a photographer for about a decade and often photographs animals out of their natural habitats, but he said that the snakes required a particular amount of patience and preparedness.
"The Green Mamba, which is super deadly, slithered up my tripod and rested its head my camera for about ten minutes," McGibbon told BuzzFeed News. "It didn't take any pictures, though."
