Roam

Roam

Dogs, although domesticated for thousands of years, retain many characteristics of their wild ancestors. They are pack animals and as such have an inherent need to be social. Exercise off leash in the company of other dogs is much better for them than being walked on leash. For the uninitiated, a “dog park” refers to an enclosed space set aside specifically to allow dogs to roam off their leashes, an activity which is usually otherwise forbidden on public property. By their very nature, dog parks are intriguing spaces. The sterile land is an odd sight– a space between nature and culture– and hosts a swirling time-lapsed kaleidoscopic pattern of people and animals.  From sunup till sunset, it is overrun with an ever-changing population of domesticated predators. Throughout the day, hundreds of dogs run, defecate, play, fight and then go home, accompanied by their owners, who, at times, engage in all of the same activities. The land breathes and seethes a complex tangle of human/animal, animal/animal and human/human interactions. This series of photographs, called Roam, attempts to envision the chaotic social interactions of dogs at my neighborhood leash-less dog park, free–at least temporarily– from the constraints of their interactions with their owners.

These photographs were taken with a Spectra Polaroid camera, scanned and digitally output.