Sleeping Lion, Jacksonville Zoo, Florida Possibly 1986 - 1987

Curator: This photograph, “Sleeping Lion, Jacksonville Zoo, Florida,” possibly from the mid-80s by Volker Seding, really stops you. Editor: Yes, it’s… stark. The lion's regal, but the setting—concrete walls, barred doors—feels so artificial and confined. It feels so constructed. How do you interpret the message conveyed by Seding here? Curator: Exactly! Note the use of photography, typically seen as capturing "truth", to depict this obviously manufactured reality. We have to ask ourselves about the labor involved in creating both the zoo environment and the image itself. Someone built those fake rocks, and then someone photographed them and the animal trapped inside. What kind of social commentary is Seding offering here through this explicit display of artifice and containment? Editor: So you are pointing out that the photograph itself becomes part of the production… it’s layered. Like, what’s being commodified—the animal, the zoo, the photograph, or all three? Curator: Precisely! And think about the viewers, their role in the process. The photograph creates distance, even as it invites us to look. Seding forces us to confront our participation in the system. Do you see how the artificiality of the set, of the walls, of the bench even… become a set piece that reveals all the labour, all of this contrivance? Editor: I hadn't really considered that. I was too caught up in the image of the lion itself. The medium being used contributes to what the picture communicates, almost overshadowing what’s being represented. Curator: Well said! Ultimately, it’s about prompting the viewer to become aware of the processes of both representation and exploitation. Editor: Wow, I'll definitely look at photographs differently now, especially thinking about the production context. Curator: Indeed. By examining these structures we learn more about how we assign and consume value.