wild?

This weekend I took a trip to Twycross Zoo to photograph and document the concept of isolating these so called 'wild animals' in tight clinical environments, far from the habitats they not so long ago lived in. I am aware that all zoo's aren't bad and that they do have positive outcomes such as protecting endangered species from extinction. Personally I believe this could still be achieved in a more humane way as opposed to enclosing them into a unnatural environment and exposing them to the public as a form of entertainment.

 

This photograph was taken shortly after arriving at the zoo and entering the 'Primate House' section.

After walking only a few steps I was soon greeted by a crowd of people of all ages, grandparents, babies in pushchairs, middle age adults. All of whom were stood inches away from the pane of glass, the only factor separating this exposed primate from the outside world. I shot this image with using an aperture of f/5.6 to produce a shallow depth of field. I purposely chose to do this to symbolise how this animal is out of touch with its environment, similar to the fashion that film directors do to show a character is out of place, or is well adapted to its surroundings. The pane of glass which stood between myself and the primate, created visible washed out effects on the animals fur, creating a low contrast feel to certain parts of the photograph. I wanted this to be clear in the photograph as it shows that it is enclosed, which along with the primates expression (which is something of a glum hopeless one) gets across the message I initially wanted to show.

 

 

 

Moving into the 'Chimp House' section of the Zoo, this photograph is one of the strongest visually as it easily portrays (how I personally feel) how this chimp's emotions are. Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, sharing more than 98 per cent of our genetic blueprint. Humans and chimps are also thought to share a common ancestor who lived some four to eight million years ago. Chimpanzees live in social communities of several dozen animals, and can habituate themselves to African rain forests, woodlands, and grasslands. Despite all of this, here we find a mature old male chimpanzee isolated yet alone as he sits by himself with his back to the glass which allows hundreds of people to gaze at him daily. Through old age, his lack of hair means that the light is reflected from his tough wrinkled skin from the one side of his body creating a nice contrast in lighting. Positioned in the centre of the shot, he faces one of four walls in despair, all of which have become boundaries of his environment.