Lowland Gorilla, San Diego Zoo 1989

This is Volker Seding’s photograph, taken at San Diego Zoo, with I’m guessing, a regular camera, sometime before 2007 when he passed away. The tan, almost monochromatic palette, feels so Southern Californian, reminiscent of David Hockney. I’m struck by the way the artifice of the habitat is so baldly presented – that fake rock looks almost like it’s been painted. It feels like the set of a play; we’re invited to see this gorilla as a performer. But then there’s that towel he's lying on – such a mundane, domestic object. It cuts through any highfalutin ideas about nature. That towel reminds me of Manet. Think of Olympia’s servant offering her flowers. The banality of the everyday punctures the classical ideal. It makes me think about what is natural, what is staged, and what we expect to see when we look.