Confined
We confine exotic animals in spaces more suited to humans than to wild animals. We taxidermy and prettily pose animals in painted box versions of the terrain where they were captured and killed. We confine them in zoos where they eat and sleep in concrete bunkers instead of the verdant jungles in which they were trapped and caged. We squeeze animals into fenced-in fields where they have no space to forage or run.
Why do we do this? To educate our children about animals they wouldn’t ever get to see otherwise? Yes, but there’s also a large element of entertainment in our capturing animals and confining them in too-small spaces so we can gawk at them. And ultimately, capturing animals against their will is how we convince ourselves of our superiority.
I‘ve photographed these animals in dioramas at a natural history museum, an urban zoo, at a recreated mesa and at a bayside dock to which they are lured.
