Geert Weggen is a Swedish-Dutch photographer based in Sweden who has spent years photographing wild red squirrels in tiny staged scenes. His squirrels push miniature shopping carts, reach for balloons, hold guitars and appear to lift weights. The animals are not trained or captive. They visit an outdoor studio Weggen built beside his house near the forest in Bispgården, in central Sweden, where hidden food draws them onto sets he has arranged in advance.
The result is a body of work that looks like a children's picture book but is made with real, free-living animals. Weggen has said that around a dozen red squirrels live in the woods near his home. Below we explain how he works, share a selection of his photos with notes on each, and add some facts about the animals themselves.
How the outdoor studio works
Weggen's set-up is part shelter, part stage. He described it to My Modern Met as an outside studio built at the side of his house, "half with a roof and the rest is open for the rain and snow." A table at eye level holds each scene, which means the camera sits at squirrel height rather than looking down on the animals. That low viewpoint is a big part of why the pictures feel so intimate.
Food is the key. He hides nuts and seeds inside or behind the props so that a squirrel exploring the set naturally grabs a handle, leans on a bench or stretches toward a flower. The studio connects directly to the trees, so the animals arrive and leave as they please. A remote flash tucked behind the scenery adds light without needing Weggen to stand in front of the animals, and he can shoot from inside, even through his kitchen window. For the images shared here he used a Nikon D810 full-frame camera.Nikon D810 camera details
Patience matters as much as gear. The squirrels were cautious at first, but they learned that the photographer meant food. One prop might sit out for hours or days before a squirrel does something photogenic with it, and many frames are discarded for every keeper.
The photographs
A red squirrel stands upright on a small red winged prop, as if riding a tiny dragon or kite into battle. Red squirrels can balance on narrow perches thanks to their long tails, which act as a counterweight.
This frame shows the photographer himself, Geert Weggen, leaning in with a miniature mallet while a squirrel works at a stump. It is a rare glimpse of how close the animals let him get after years of visits.
A squirrel appears to crack a walnut with a tiny hammer, surrounded by broken shells. In reality red squirrels open nuts with their teeth, gnawing a hole or splitting the shell along its seam.
Two squirrels with miniature shopping carts full of red treats look like they are racing through a supermarket, one of them leaping mid-air. Red squirrels store food for winter, burying nuts and seeds in many small caches.
Standing on its hind legs, a squirrel seems to lift a barbell made of wooden discs. This weightlifting scene became one of Weggen's most shared images when it circulated again in April 2020.
In the snow, a squirrel holds a small guitar beside an open red case, as if about to busk. The prominent ear tufts are typical of red squirrels in winter; they thin out in summer.
A squirrel grips a little bow while a great tit perches on top of it. Birds and squirrels share Weggen's feeding spots, so mixed scenes like this happen naturally.
A pink balloon, a park bench and a potted tree turn a snowy table into a tiny city park. The squirrel reaching up for the string supplies the moment the set was built for.
Among blue poppies and pink bleeding heart flowers, a squirrel sits on a mossy stone eating. Not every image needs a prop; here the garden flowers do the storytelling.
Stretched out between two purple lupin spikes, a squirrel looks like it is doing a split. The pose is simply the animal climbing from one stem to the other.
Holding a pink gerbera to its nose, this squirrel seems to be smelling the flower. It is more likely checking for seeds or food Weggen hid nearby.
A squirrel sniffs an orange flower from the top of a weathered stump. The soft background comes from a wide aperture and plenty of distance between subject and trees.
(The Facebook video originally embedded here is no longer available.)
About red squirrels
The Eurasian red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, lives in conifer and mixed forests from western Europe to eastern Asia. Adults are small, usually around 250 to 340 grams, with a bushy tail almost as long as the body. Their coats range from bright ginger to dark brown, and the ear tufts that make them so photogenic grow longest in winter.
They do not hibernate. Instead they bury food in many scattered caches during autumn and dig it up through the winter, guided largely by smell. Some caches are never recovered, which makes squirrels accidental tree planters. In Sweden red squirrels are common, but in Britain and Ireland they have declined sharply since the introduction of the North American grey squirrel, which outcompetes them and carries squirrelpox, a virus deadly to reds.
Staging wildlife photos responsibly
Staged wildlife photography divides opinion. Weggen's approach, with free-roaming animals, natural foods and no handling, avoids the most serious concerns. Anyone trying something similar should follow a few simple rules:
- Offer foods that suit the species, such as unsalted nuts and seeds, never bread or processed snacks.
- Never catch, hold or confine an animal for a photo.
- Keep props free of sharp edges, loose string and anything small enough to swallow.
- Be honest about staging when sharing images, especially in competitions.
Where to see more
Weggen shares new scenes through the seasons, from autumn pumpkins to winter snow, and runs photography workshops at his studio. Signed prints, a squirrel photo card deck and a Dutch-language book of his work are sold through the shop on his site. You can follow him on his website, Instagram and Facebook.
Sources: My Modern Met: Geert Weggen's candid squirrel photos (interview); Geert Weggen: official website; Wikipedia: Red squirrel; CGTN: weightlifting squirrel photos (April 2020); International Times: photographer follows red squirrels daily for six years. All photos: Geert Weggen.
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