In his series ‘Modern Wilderness’, Germany-based photographer Daniel Zakharov illustrates the inherent incongruity of keeping wild animals in man-made environments.
Zakharov’s work is not meant as a criticism of zoos, instead, it is meant to highlight the “strange and bizarre daily life of animals” by juxtaposing photographs of animals against an artificial, man-made background.
He said, “nowadays animals are born in captivity, between concrete, tiling, cement-slab buildings and artificial landscapes instead of the endless stretch of nature”.
“In the meantime, the zoo has become home for the animals and they have lost the memory of their ancestral breeding grounds. However, by looking them in the eyes, one gets the feeling of recognizing their desire for true destiny”.
[My Modern Met, images via Daniel Zakharov]