Hi,
I am a zoologist and have been vegan for 10 years. Photography is my profession in this period of my life. In 2021, I decided to combine my zoology background, vegan culture and photography competence to use it for animal welfare. But as I mentioned in the title, this is a page about 'them', not about me.
'Who are they? if you say ..
Farm animals whose pain we do not see and whose cries we do not hear. We encounter 'they' most often on the plate, growing up in the dominant culture, we lose the bond that was strong as children and start ignoring animals. When we consume the meat on our plate and the milk in our coffee, we do not think of animals. We consider ourselves entitled to consume whatever animal the system offers us in any geography. When questioning other cultures (stop yulin), we ignore our own culture of exploitation. Even the fact that we are well-equipped, highly intellectual, social people is not enough to research and transform our lives. And yet the farm animals I call 'they' don't actually suffer as a group, they experience it as individuals. A cow separated from her baby, the other cow does not feel the pain of the mother. That's why we talk about 'cows' and 'sheep' as if they live in groups, just to suppress our own conscience.
In photos, animals look into your eyes. Take a long look into their eyes. Realize that they are no different from your dog and cat that you take care of as your child, that the system has taught you this, that you are a partner in the death of animals that have feelings for the sake of taste and habits and feel pain. Take time to think about it. Research it, don't ignore it any more. Because they don't want to be separated from their offspring, living in machines and cages, and ultimately dying without ever living.
Please start questioning, bring out your courage and open the door to change.
Behind that door will be waiting for you with all the love of farm animals, those who are not yet dead.
D.
