How do you envision nature? People in urban environments often feel the absence of nature in their lives, so they attempt in various ways to gain access to it. They also have their own visions and stereotypes about what nature really is.
To recreate their images of “ideal nature” in city environments, urbanites sometimes extract their favorite elements from natural habitats and combine them with the artificial—resulting in settings such as animals’ living quarters at zoos.
The photography project “Habitats” is a collection of these envisioned natures.
Inspired by the odd yet simultaneously beautiful combination of these natures, I captured animals’ habitats throughout zoos in New York City.
By using a medium-format camera, I tried to create a balance between a large depth-of-field in order to show fine details, and a fast- enough shutter speed to make the animals appear motionless—as if all the animals and plants are fake, and real merges with the artificial.
