Melanie Faith Dove, Looking at Darcy (ANIMALS 2024)

Web:

lostdove.com

The pink of the monochrome infrared is symbolic of the sickly artificial nature of the ‘wildlife farms’ all over the world. I’m calling them farms because like in Eswatini, they’ve had to reclaim non-virgin lands, fence it off and reintroduce their historically native fauna into large, yet restricted spaces. The species selection is handpicked, in turn impacting the balance of the greater eco-system, including the landscape and flora micro-diversity which then determines which animals will thrive or even survive. Ironically, the saddening twist of tourism supporting conservation means the animals that draw the cameras ultimately stand the best chance of survival.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.