Giraffes, National Zoo, Washington D.C. Possibly 1986 - 1988

Editor: This photograph, "Giraffes, National Zoo, Washington D.C.," possibly taken between 1986 and 1988 by Volker Seding, immediately strikes me with its strong visual layers of enclosure. There are the bars of the giraffe enclosure, framing the giraffes themselves, set against a distressed wall with what seems to be another barred opening in the background. It creates this nested effect of containment. What is your perspective? Curator: This work really invites a materialist reading. We need to consider what the photograph reveals about how we interact with animals in a zoo. It is all about built structures: the primary cage of iron bars that traps animals, a further architectural construction visible through the iron bars that encloses more of the zoo area, then the act of framing the photo, that further contains what we understand and perceive. How do the material components impact the giraffes' existence, their social dynamics? Editor: That is interesting, how you consider both the physicality and purpose of each cage in relation to the giraffes. Is there some connection between the aging of these structures and the meaning you derive? Curator: Absolutely. Note the worn paint and the evident decay, these are deliberate in that they reflect time’s effect on manufactured structures of human dominance. They emphasize labor involved in building and its inescapable obsolescence. This forces us to ponder: What is the impact of our consumptive behaviours when viewing wildlife from an unnatural perspective? Editor: So, in that sense, the photograph is about how constructed spaces, whether the zoo enclosure itself, the building that is further in the shot, and photograph, shape not only the physical experience for the giraffes but our perception of them too? Curator: Precisely. By showcasing materials arranged by human involvement in that space and how the structures inevitably age, it throws the means of wildlife observation into high relief. Editor: That changes my understanding of the piece entirely! Thank you. I see the photograph as less about giraffes and more about our gaze upon them through social frameworks of observation and structure. Curator: I'm so glad you're considering the bigger picture. Art offers ways to reflect and critique societal structures through the subtle interplay of material elements.