yamisiktezgah

From the Photographer:  “We strictly demarcate the separation between the world of humans and that of animals. Each creature—except man—we call animal. We describe humans as living creatures, distinguished by the highest degree of development of the psyche and social life, while the rest fall into this catch-all categorization. Generally accepted, these boundaries are not not contractual, but determined, and eliminate any space for beings caught between these two terms. While visiting over fifteen zoos in Europe, I observed and photographed living organisms which are the most similar to the human being: apes. Initially, I was looking for superficial, anatomical similarities and deceptively manlike behaviors. Visiting zoos as an average visitor, I was unable to capture more than aesthetic images of animals in a changing environment of runs and cages. Only a longer observation of individual characters allowed me to perceive various grimaces, gestures, and emotions surfacing from broad animal mechanics. Almost two years of observing primates forced me to rebuild my opinions anew. We should not treat them as mere animals, but perhaps think of them as self-aware, non-human persons full of emotions, despite the limitations of beastly instinct and reaction patterns.“  Photographs and text byPaweł Bogumił (via: lensculture)

Reblogged by Lisa.