Trading In Extinction

This image from the series “Trading In Extinction” by Patrick Brown struck me as particularly powerful. The viewer’s immediate reaction to the subject matter is shock. It is in this way the photograph is effective. Because it is in a series intended to raise awareness and concern for illegal trade of endangered species, this photograph of what was once a beautiful tiger influences the viewers emotions.

You can tell that the photographer is highly displeased over this issue by not only seeing the series as a whole but just by viewing this photograph alone. The head is in sharp focus, brining it into direct attention. Instead of just photographing the head, the photographer gives the viewer context by backing up from the subject and showing the whole office space. The viewer is clued in that something is up because there is something so unusual and possibly disturbing about the presented scene.

The intention of this photograph is to move the viewer and it is very effective. It works just by itself but is even more powerful when standing alongside like-images from this series about illegal animal trade. Together they are informative and moving. I believe that the light shed on the project by the captions about what is going on also greatly help tell the full story. The questions that are raised by seeing the pictures need to be answered because the photographs are so engaging that the viewer is inspired to investigate further.  In this series, the photographer has struggled against beatings, arrests and foreign illnesses to document this subject that he is passionate about. Furthermore he has had a hell of a time even getting published. This back-story and the captions fill in the blanks of this series and together packages an issue that the photographer has effectively used to educate and move me.