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Zoos

King Vulture. 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.
“I think that what people see inside the zoo cage is a symbol of our power to capture and control other aspects of the world. They see what was once a marvellous, vibrant, sentient creature, full of instincts and emotions and passions and life-force, reduced to a spectacle, a prisoner, a trophy of our conquest of the natural world. They see a celebration of the human power to displace and reconfigure an animal’s life for our own amusement and supposed edification.”
Randy Malamud, Professor of English at Georgia State University, USA, and author of Reading Zoos: Representations of Animals and Captivity

Filename: False-Environments-14.jpg
Copyright: © Craig Redmond
Image Size: 5472x3648 / 5.6MB; www.craigredmondphotos.co.uk; zoo captivity animal animal rights
Contained in galleries: False Environments

King Vulture. 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 />
“I think that what people see inside the zoo cage is a symbol of our power to capture and control other aspects of the world. They see what was once a marvellous, vibrant, sentient creature, full of instincts and emotions and passions and life-force, reduced to a spectacle, a prisoner, a trophy of our conquest of the natural world. They see a celebration of the human power to displace and reconfigure an animal’s life for our own amusement and supposed edification.”<br />
Randy Malamud, Professor of English at Georgia State University, USA, and author of Reading Zoos: Representations of Animals and Captivity