One thing about animal photography: your models don’t always co-operate, and you often end up with photos of the less flattering parts of their anatomy. I thought a selection of my photos of these might at least bring a smile (and, actually, the zebra photo is one of my all-time favourites).

‘Froth at the top, dregs at the bottom, but the middle excellent.’ ~ Voltaire

‘I know up on the top you are seeing great sights, but down at the bottom we, too, should have rights.’ ~ Dr Seuss, Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories

‘Bottoms up or bottoms down, / Either way no one will frown.’ ~ Mike Anderson

‘My mind is trouble, like a fountain stirred; / And I myself see not the bottom of it.’ ~ William Shakespeare

‘My bottom is so big it’s got its own gravitational field.’ ~ Carol Vorderman

‘One mustn’t look at the abyss, because there is at the bottom an inexpressible charm which attracts us.’ ~ Gustave Flaubert

‘When you’re average, you’re just as close to the bottom as you are the top.’ ~ Alfred North Whitehead

‘The artist needs to understand the truth that lies at the bottom of an enigma.’ ~ John Maeda