An elephant sleeps by a mid-night blue lake, an owl flutters on a blade of grass. A camel averts its gaze from the harsh uncanny light that illuminates it and a calf stops to listen in a deserted, red-hued street to the silence that engulfs it.

Zoe Childerley's 'In a Different Light' comprises a series of magical images that are at once familiar and delightfully strange. Carefully constructed to conceal the way they are made they remain, nevertheless, fabulous scenes that immediately engage the imagination. The dramatic light and dense foliage, the lonely spaces and quiet waters: these heightened realities are sensuous and thrilling.

In a Different Light is inspired by fairy tales, folk tales, mythology and literature, narratives that both distinguish communities and unite humanity. She works with Hindu myths and African proverbs, a Nepali tale and the Old Testament.

Some of Childerley's images depict living animals in alien or artificial environments. Some are shot on location, at home or abroad, with minor details added or subtracted during post-production. Quite often, the animals she photographs are stuffed, though they are incorporated with such skill into the false landscapes she provides that they nevertheless appear uncannily alive Childerley did some work in Nepal which formed part of a body of work that has been exhibited in the UK. The images are based on folktales, several of which come from Nepal. In her exhibition at the Siddhartha Art Gallery, Zoe will be showcasing 12 images from this captivating series of work. The menagerie of animals, originally preserved by taxidermy, had new life breathed into them by her photography. Childerly has been working with Philip Holmes, the director of the Esther Benjamin Trust, which has been working with Nepali girls who have been rescued from Indian circuses and with young deaf people. Proceeds from the sale of her photographs will go to the Trust.

The elephant in Childerley's image belongs to a Nepali tale about logic and intellect outwitting superstition. But such is the power of photography that it can carry the multiple narratives we attach to it. The strength of Childerley's skilled and mesmerising images is that they tap into a collective repertoire of archetypes while remaining seductively original and new.

Zoe Childerly is a photographic artist and senior lecturer at Derby University in the UK. 'In a Different Light' is being exhibited till 18 July at the Siddhartha Art Gallery, Babar Mahal Revisited.