I once did a cosplay photoshoot where I had to pose partially submerged in water in the middle of winter. I thought that was dedication. I was wrong — this Russian cosplayer has diced with the giant, furry jaws of death itself to get the perfect photo, shooting her Lara Croft cosplay with an actual, real life bear.
The cosplayer is Captain Irachka, who worked with photographer Irina Pirogova to get these perfectly fear-inducing shots. Irina is well-known for her shots of beautiful women posing with various dangerous carnivores such as bears, wolves and foxes, so this shoot is well within her ballpark.
The bear himself is a bit of a celebrity — his name is Stepan, and he pops up occasionally in the news for being fully domesticated and living with his two adoptive human parents — and occasionally officiating at weddings.
In fact, Stepan is so used to modelling with lovely women that the caption above suggests he was confused when his co-star was trying to crawl away from him, rather than asking for kisses. Of course, not all bears are like Stepan and we don’t recommend trying this one at home — even if you do happen to have a grizzly in your backyard.
This story originally appeared on Kotaku Australia.