In his sad and disturbing photo series ‘Captive’, Washington DC-based photographer Gaston Lacombe takes a look at captive zoo animals and their horrid “un-natural environment”
Shooting the animals from the perspective of a zoo visitor, he captures them in the confined spaces that that they have no choice but to call home.
“We relish the chance to see these animals up close, but we also often fail to notice the habitats in which we keep them,” he wrote. “That is why I photograph from a regular visitor’s perspective, instead of doing a behind-the-scenes documentary.”
“I want the viewer to revisit what they see in zoos, and look beyond the animal. So, really, these photos are not about the animals—they are about us. It documents what happens when humans use animals as objects of display and entertainment.”
[via My Modern Met and Thinx, images via Gaston Lacombe]