Introducing the weird and wonderful world of niche animal shows - PHOTO

You could be forgiven for thinking the animals are the most interesting things to be seen at a pet show - but you'd be wrong.Photographer Amy Lombard has turned her lens towards the animal enthusiasts who populate these shows and the result is a series of fascinating portraits. The series, called Welcome to the Show, features a all manner of fauna - from the lovable to the downright odd, and the people who cultivate them.There's the man whose pet rat wears a tiny top hat, the woman whose bouffant rivals that of her schit-tzu and the crustacean-lover who sells hermit crabs with colorfully painted shells.Lombard took in the best the animal show circuit has to offer around the country from the rather eccentric fringe shows (pet costume show in Pennsylvania) to New York's Meet the Breed event.The Philadelphia-raised, Brooklyn-residing photographer says her Welcome to the Show series felt like a natural fit for her.'I grew up in Pennsylvania with four dogs, five cats, lizard, turtles, birds, etc,' she says.But while she has a longstanding passion for animals and photographing them, she says they're really just a small part of the equation in the ongoing series.'There's something extraordinary about being in a room with hundreds of people who share one mutual passion... Many people are unaware that some of these niche animal shows exist, or fi they are, they don't necessarily know what they look like,' she says.In documenting these events and the people who are passionate about them, Lombard explores people's relationships with their animals as well as society's attitude toward animals.She began the project in early 2013 and reflects that it's been a very animal-dominated year.'I think I hung out with more animals than humans at times,' she says.'It's clear that relationships with animals are a big park of my work and life.'Welcome to the Show is an an ongoing project, so it looks like Lombard's 2014 is shaping up to be another year full of creatures.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az