White Rhinoceros, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo 1986

Editor: This is Volker Seding's photograph, "White Rhinoceros, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo," taken in 1986. It's quite… stark. The rhino is behind a railing, in what looks like a pretty dismal enclosure. What do you make of it? Curator: Dismal, yes, and yet... profoundly telling. Seding's captured not just an animal, but a situation, an era even. That drab enclosure, the chipped paint – it screams of a certain kind of 80s institutional aesthetic. It feels almost documentary in its matter-of-factness, don't you think? Like, he just happened upon the rhino, and snapped the shot. No artifice, no grandeur. Editor: I see what you mean. It’s not the majestic wildlife photography you might expect. What's the effect of this deliberate lack of drama, do you think? Curator: It invites contemplation. The rhino isn't presented as some exotic beast, but as an individual, vulnerable even. Consider that stark whiteness against the dirt. Ironic, isn’t it? White rhino…dirty enclosure. He highlights this…this…captivity. It becomes a potent comment on conservation and our relationship to the natural world. It's a public art, a sign, wouldn't you say? And it also hints to an era where wildlife was a mere item for display. How far we came! Or did we? Editor: That makes sense. It's a lot more layered than I initially thought. I came expecting nature, and found...a mirror. Curator: Exactly! Art reflecting back. That's Seding’s real catch. The question is, how can we prevent making that picture in the future?