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Zoos

Rhino. Germany, 2017. © Craig Redmond
This series explores the unnatural captivity of wild animals in zoos - ‘False Environments’ where the paintings of trees, rocks and other landscapes may fool the viewing public but do nothing to benefit the lives of animals who will never experience freedom.
“We learn that you can remove a creature from her habitat and still have a creature. We see a sea lion in a concrete pool and believe that we’re still seeing a sea lion. But we are not. We should never let zookeepers define for us what or who an animal is. A sea lion is her habitat. She is the school of fish she chases. She is the water. She is the cold wind blowing over the ocean. She is the waves that strike the rocks on which she sleeps, and she is the rocks. She is the constant calling back and forth between members of her family, this talking to each other that never seems to stop. She is the shark who eventually ends her life. She is all of these things. She is that web. She is her desires, which we can learn only by letting her show us, if she wants; not by caging her.”
Derrick Jensen, environmentalist and author of Thought To Exist In The Wild: Awakening From The Nightmare Of Zoos

Filename: False-Environments-13.jpg
Copyright: © Craig Redmond
Image Size: 5472x3648 / 4.5MB; www.craigredmondphotos.co.uk; zoo captivity animal animal rights
Contained in galleries: False Environments

Rhino. Germany, 2017. © Craig Redmond<br />
This series explores the unnatural captivity of wild animals in zoos - ‘False Environments’ where the paintings of trees, rocks and other landscapes may fool the viewing public but do nothing to benefit the lives of animals who will never experience freedom.<br />
“We learn that you can remove a creature from her habitat and still have a creature. We see a sea lion in a concrete pool and believe that we’re still seeing a sea lion. But we are not. We should never let zookeepers define for us what or who an animal is. A sea lion is her habitat. She is the school of fish she chases. She is the water. She is the cold wind blowing over the ocean. She is the waves that strike the rocks on which she sleeps, and she is the rocks. She is the constant calling back and forth between members of her family, this talking to each other that never seems to stop. She is the shark who eventually ends her life. She is all of these things. She is that web. She is her desires, which we can learn only by letting her show us, if she wants; not by caging her.”<br />
Derrick Jensen, environmentalist and author of Thought To Exist In The Wild: Awakening From The Nightmare Of Zoos