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[MUSIC, melodic piano and guitar throughout...]
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A couple years prior to beginning the project
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i had spent a year in New Jersey
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caring for both my parents,
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my mum has alzheimer's disease
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and during that period
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i made a conscious decision
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not to photograph my family.
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it did though have a big emotional impact on me
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and i knew, somewhere,
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it was gonna emerge in my work.
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About a year after, uh, that time in new jersey,
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i was visiting a relatives property,
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and she had a very old horse
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named Petey.
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i was just fascinated, mesmerized with Petey,
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and, uh, fell in love with him,
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and spent the afternoon photographing him.
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But i didnt think that there was the basis
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of a long term project there.
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i was thinking of it as more therapy,
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it organically developed into a project.
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There have been points when
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i've fought back tears as im shooting.
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Um, the rooster, in particular,
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was just in such a sad state
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when i encountered him.
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i was just feeling
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and not thinking
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when i was with him
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i wanted to make sure that
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i honoured the experience.
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i wanted the images to be unflinching in their detail
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i didnt want there to be any risk of sentimentality
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with the work.
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Because it feels to me disrespectful, uh,
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to who the animal really is.
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In a lot of respects these images
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say as much about me
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as they do about my subjects.
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The caregivers have found a lot of comfort
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in the images,
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particularly after their animals have passed.
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That there is an image that they feel
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has really shown who their animal was.
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i'm looking at mortality, and aging,
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and that's not easy subject material.
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Some of the subjects do seem sad, and tired.
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Some of them are downright defiant,
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and stare down the camera.
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I think these images
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are testaments to survival and endurance,
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and finding meaning and joy in life,
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in the face of physical limitations and challenges.
