Nikolai Tolstyh takes photos of paper animal silhouettes in a natural setting. The combination is surprisingly perfect: the surroundings provide both color for the cutout and a scene to frame the animal.

Early morning storms over the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya on August 26, 2016. (Photo by Action Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Canoeists are framed by the tail of a breaching whale in Antarctica in April 2023. The photographer, from California, writes: “It was probably a once-in-a-lifetime moment”. (Photo by Jiahong Zeng/Solent News)

The Sphinx breed of cat “Adam vom Feisastern” of the German breeder Sabine Braeuer waits on a jury table during an annual International Pedigree Dog and Cat Show in Erfurt, Germany on June 10, 2012. (Photo by Jens Meyer/Associated Press)

A Galapagos Tortoise shell is used as a foot rest at Heathrow Airport's Animal Reception Centre on January 25, 2011 in London, England. Many animals pass through the centre's doors ranging from exotic animals such as snow leopards and elephants, snakes and crocodiles, to the more common such as cats and dogs. In 2010 alone the centre processed approximately 10,500 cats and dogs, 1,300 birds, 105,000 day old chicks, 246,000 reptiles, 230 horses and 29 million fish. Most animals are part of zoo transfer schemes, the pet trade, or are pets in transit. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A Sumatran Tiger tears apart a wrapped Christmas present at Taronga Zoo on December 21, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. Animals received Christmas themed enrichment foods as part of the Zoo's regular program to encourage the animals to forage for food and help improve hunting abilities. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

A dog welcomes a volunteer at the “Ping An A Fu” (“Safe and Happy”) Homeless Animals Rescue Center on September 11, 2006 in Nanjing of Jiangsu Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

This greedy piglet was isolated from the rest of its litter by the farmer who named it Hitler after it tried to grab all the food at feeding time. (Photo by R J Lewis/Getty Images). 1942