Of fur...

As a introduction to this work I would first like to say that I have always been passionately against the commercial fur trade.  The cruel brutality witnessed in the actions of hunting, trapping, keeping and slaughtering of animals in the fur industry, is beyond comprehension. To me personally, those able to perform such acts towards an animal are lacking in humanity.  It is a sad fact that although many believe the fur trade to be a thing of the past, this is sadly not the case. This industry continues today throughout the world, a supply produced in response to a continuing demand.

All the fur/feathers or bodies of animals that I have used/photographed or may use in the future for my art work, have been found/donated or are family airlooms.

As a young girl my mother had a few furs that had been passed to her from her great aunts. They were kept in the loft and upon their discovery, my response to the horrible thought that these poor creature had been hunted and killed for clothing, was to keep them amongst my other teddy bears in an attempt to make them feel loved and wanted. A child's way of dealing with the feelings of guilt. I affectionate named them and became particularly attached to 'Jack', a black fox fur. To the disgust of many other little girls I would take him to guide camp, sleep overs and sleep with him on my bed. I could never understand why he frightened people. I would talk to him and pet him.  He spent many years safe in my room until I left my parents house. Recently my Mum found him again at my request and he is now living with me again along with two other little stoats (that is a guess as they are not as well preserved as Jack).

As a child it was so easy for me to place a personality onto these objects.  I remember the feeling of wanting to 'save' them and I wanted others to feel sympathy for what had happened to them. 


I have been taking photographs of the stoats as a way of experimenting with how I can attach personality to them now that I am an adult.  I suppose in a way I am also once again attempting to draw sympathy from the viewer. Or in the very least to draw out different responses rather than disgust or fear.

With Jack I took a different approach. I sought to photograph my attachment to him and the familiarity that I still feel after the years spent coddling him. From a strange child's point of view, I am still looking to make up for the wrong that I believed was done to him.

(Note; these photos have not been edited yet so they are pretty raw and grainy. I might re post them when I have photo shopped them properly.)