Volker Seding

My photo professor opened my eyes to an amazing photographer named Volker Seding. The majority of his work is either architectural or focusing on animals, which is the work I'm most interested in. While Seding is working with animals in a much different way than I am, I can relate to his projects, and I admire the position he is taking on our relationship with animals. Seding produced a number of moving photographs of depressed looking animals in man-made zoo settings. The pictures are all very still and calm with a great sadness to them, you can tell that these animals are missing something in their souls from being raised in captivity, a very unnatural environment for them. While zoos and aquariums have always been a favourite place to go for me, I have struggled with the concept as I have gotten older, and now feel guilty when I go and that we are selfishly keeping these animals locked up for our own enjoyment. (That being said, zoo conditions are only getting better as technology advances, and many species have been saved and bred only because of zoos). However, Seding is looking past these issues and making a statement about our relationship with animals, and how with time the barrier between us is becoming worse. Humans are essentially an animal, and we are meant to live in harmony with them which I think is essentially what both Seding and I are trying to achieve with our work. Here are some beautiful examples of his photos from the animal series titled, "Captive" and "Animal Kingdom."