I’m a sucker for “behind the scenes in natural history museums” photos, mostly because I want to live in them (the photos and the places). This series reminds me of work by Richard Barnes and Klaus Pichler (two of my favorites), and what I appreciate about these pictures is that they are a bit dark and monochromatic, as well as, of course, somewhat absurd.
The second series posted here explores “the constructed environment of … zoos, focusing particularly on the enclosures and the architecture of these strange theatres, in which the players are exotic animals and displaced trees.”
More from the artist’s statement: There is a sense of melancholy in these places, which is juxtaposed against a fictional sense of utopia, and the [romanticized] childhood vision many of us remember.
This series chronicles the absent and the hidden, mostly in the form of empty or abandoned enclosures. It allows the focus to move from the animals to their stages, asking us to examine what is usually a mere background to the central actors.
From “This is Not to be Looked At: Highlights of the Permanent Collection”
From “The Illusion of Liberty”
Visit artist's site: katmitchellphotography.com
Found via: urbanautica
Posted April 22nd, 2013
