28.7″ x 23″
Hahnemühle Fine Art Baryta

Displaced Habitats explores the artificiality of an idealist zoo. It is suggested that zoos keeps and breeds animals for research, education and conservation purposes. However animal rights groups continue to push for the notion of releasing the creatures back into their natural habitats, establishing the artificiality of enclosed spaces with hidden motives of tourism and animal neglect. Perhaps the concrete, man-made jungles were never suited for such animals who have adapted over millions of years to their natural environment only to be displaced and dragged over to the unwanted nuisances of the public eye. Could one still consider the zoos as a safe haven for animals? To whose expense are we learning about these animals in zoos? Research and education are important in the conservation of the animals in the wild as public rallies sound of the preservation of their habitats. But comparing animals in the wild and animals in captivity is likened to the comparison of different species. Their behaviours, primal instincts and evolutional adaptations have ultimately been altered. Displaced Habitats aims to highlight how animals are displaced from their natural habitats into manufactured spaces and hopes to serve as a reminder, through the typology of the images, of the emptiness of the animals.