A Trip to the Zoo
This birthday trip to the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison you may recognize.
Before we see any real animals, we are greeted by faceless orangutans--the fantasy of becoming bestial.
The Althouses are not here to pretend; we are here to capture the real thing.
Another mother-son combo, however, gets its thrills from imagining. The mother's skirt whips up slightly, moving with the woman's excitement over a son she feels may grow up to be 9 1/2 feet tall.
An Amish family is drawn to this zoo, perhaps because it is a form of entertainment not primarily based on electricity. The glass to the primates serves as a gigantic television screen.
One boy drifts away from this family and ponders our species' place amongst the primates.
Meanwhile, the primates dream of life beyond the glass.
As I photograph a feeding giraffe...
...its partner begins to question the integrity of our voyeurism.
It's hard to communicate and keep an intimate relationship, when you live onstage:
Someone, call the zookeepers, an animal has escaped!
Finally, the faceless ones wave goodbye. "It's been a pleasure having you," they say as we return to city.
Before we see any real animals, we are greeted by faceless orangutans--the fantasy of becoming bestial.
The Althouses are not here to pretend; we are here to capture the real thing.
Another mother-son combo, however, gets its thrills from imagining. The mother's skirt whips up slightly, moving with the woman's excitement over a son she feels may grow up to be 9 1/2 feet tall.
An Amish family is drawn to this zoo, perhaps because it is a form of entertainment not primarily based on electricity. The glass to the primates serves as a gigantic television screen.
One boy drifts away from this family and ponders our species' place amongst the primates.
Meanwhile, the primates dream of life beyond the glass.
As I photograph a feeding giraffe...
...its partner begins to question the integrity of our voyeurism.
It's hard to communicate and keep an intimate relationship, when you live onstage:
Someone, call the zookeepers, an animal has escaped!
Finally, the faceless ones wave goodbye. "It's been a pleasure having you," they say as we return to city.
posted by Chris Althouse Cohen at 2:42 PM
6 Comments:
Beautifully done, Chris. Incisive and hilarious.
Gorgeous pictures! How do you get the colors so vibrant?
Thanks. I often adjust the enhance the color on my computer program. I could probably get them to look better if I had PhotoShop.
I refuse to make the transition to digital.
35mm, is so much more deep, even if the automatic lenses are a pain in the ass.
BTW, you have that picture of the Giraffe seeming challenging you, I have a picture, somewhere, of my Japanese girlfriend Shino feading a camel.
the funny thing is that, I don't know if it is the male or the female, but one of them has a gland under their tongue that expands, it's REALLY VERY INTIMIDATING! if you see it. And one of the camels became jealous of Shino, and excercised dominance, or property.
I have ONE picture of the camel with the swolen gland flowing out of their mouth, or maybe under their chin, I can't recall (I took a lot of pictures I never developed into photo's, but I keep the negatives)
But I DID have the photos of shino running away from the camel developed.
I'm just that kinda guy :)
I can appreciate art. but I LOVE pictoral humiliation of friends.
I'm a guy. :)
BTW, in the Second Pic, is the blond on the right side staring at the camera. . . .is that your Ma's?
She's all mouth breathing and confused, I kinda like that a woman I respect being human.
Assuming that is your Ma's.
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