Confined
We confine exotic animals in spaces more suited to mannequins than to wild animals. We taxidermy and prettily pose animals in painted box versions of the terrain where they were captured and killed. We squeeze animals into fenced-in fields where it’s impossible for them to forage or run. We confine them in zoos where they eat, sleep and pace in concrete bunkers instead of in the verdant jungles in which they were trapped and ultimately transported to “civilization”.
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.
