SCIACCA
MEET
This photo-series is about human animals and non-human animals. Overall it regards sentient beings who, are alike and, at the same time, different from each other. As Adrian Franklin states in his book Animals & Modern Cultures (1999: p.62) '... although many might want to understand animals, we tend to understand them in terms of our own experiences, language and emotions. They are seen differently but understood socially'.
In consideration of the above, the title meet in being a homophone of the word meat calls to mind the flesh of the non-human animals used as food, it invites to disconnect from the animal as a whole, yet it suggests a confrontation. Under these circumstances, it defines the power relation between the two species whilst attempting at the same time to find a middle ground.
As you can see, the images do not include any information about the subjects photographed. I deliberately decided to follow this approach to avoid distracting the viewer from reflecting upon the main issue addressed which proposes a critical reflection concerning the complexities of human- animal relations in the 21st century. On the whole this approach has been chosen to try to escape specific cultural contexts, as non-human animals are in fact understood in different ways depending on the social environment in which the observation takes place.
Taking everything into consideration, MEET can be seen as an observation of different contexts in which these relations are formed. The spectrum of contradictions that emerge from juxtaposing the portraits presented in this series seeks to make the viewer engage with controversial debates about social and cultural values.