Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/94975
When I began photographing animals, my inspiration came, in part, from a sense of wonderment in nature—something I have felt since childhood and that still informs my imagery today. But this does not entirely explain why I continue to produce images of animals in the way that I do. My images aim to illuminate, particularly in this book, the discussions that surround the relationships between human and nonhuman animals — to make an inquiry into how these relationships occupy anthropocentric space within the contexts of ethics, history, science, and politics. To examine animals with any degree of intensity is to engage with and question what we are all doing here. With the world's population now at almost seven billion, I see my photography as a way of examining our attitudes, and responsibilities, toward the natural world. Many of today's most consistently debated questions concern how animals occupy "our" space, how we are putting huge pressure on other species and, as a result, losing the breathtaking biodiversity we enjoy. Questions are rarely more important, or more relevant, than those that arise when we discuss the importance and future existence of the other species that inhabit this planet. As a photographer, I have an opportunity to document and inquire into these subjects, many of which may never have been addressed in a particular way before. My aim is to fragment a moment in time, bringing the viewer into an unnatural proximity to the subject and allowing them to engage with it, creating an unreality that in turn brings the viewer closer to reality. I am acutely aware that everybody has a unique journey that determines what meaning they find in an image and thus what it might signify to them—it's this ambiguity that gives photography a uniqueness. With this in mind, my hope is that I can engage with subjects in illuminating ways, helping inform the thoughts we each have around our relationships with animals. I do not have illusions about my expertise beyond photography, but thanks to my collaborators in the making of these images, and, of course, the animals themselves, I hope to have created images that make a contribution. Photography can be a way to extend our experiences and photographs have the potential to trigger different responses in different people, for different reasons. For example, a researcher familiar with the applications of the GFP (green fluorescent protein) in cancer research may react to an image of a green, glowing mouse in a wholly different way than someone who has never seen such a thing before—recognizing in it things that are familiar and also unfamiliar. It is this layering and potentiality of meaning in the images that I strive to create. With the pupae series of images, the subject matter is so small that we ordinarily can't perceive all that is going on. Beneath the marvel of the pupae's forms, a metamorphosis is taking place that constitutes the complete reordering of physiology and function—any perception of stillness and lifelessness is misplaced. For me these images evoke thoughts of Easter Island, Tutankhamun, and portraits of eyes and mouths. It is this ease with which we find "otherness" in things that I find so fascinating. There is an important statement by Picasso about working as an artist that often comes to mind. He's reported to have said "I do not search, I find." This can apply to all of us when we are working toward something. We might identify an area of study, of work, and we might set up the conditions that allow us to operate there, but it is only by being open to the possibilities that we can reach a new place. So it is with my photographs: While at a location, and while we get everything ready to take the picture, I am not just looking for a planned result but am waiting to see what might reveal itself to me, and in turn surprise others. I am not saying that these images and subjects cover all there is to discover around anthropocentrism. This topic, and how it shapes, distorts, and challenges our perceptions of the world and its inhabitants, as well as the environmental challenges we face and the influence of other species on our lives, are important yet controversial issues. The exploration of the plasticity of the natural and made environment, how it shapes us, how we shape it, underpins my work and, although I understand that it is impossible to stay neutral in the construction of such images, my hope is that the work is presented in a neutral way. The images and accompanying texts in this book are a kind of work in progress, and as such are certainly far from all that is worth engaging with on these subjects. This is simply as far as the work has gone at this point. If there is one thing I want it to achieve, it's that it deliver the surprises that I have felt, and so encourage viewers to engage with the issues further. If the work provokes other inquiry, research, beneficial actions, or awareness, then that is as much as could be hoped for. Tim Flach, 2012 Right: Featherless Chicken