Francis Bacon's Zoo

Hi Jack,

 

you really have a good eye for discovering images that lots of people would never 'see'. The colors in this photo are indeed reminiscent of Francis Bacon paintings (I can't remember one that looks like this exactly, maybe one of the pope paintings) and the glass and bars add a structure that is also familiar. The hinges (?) at the top right of the picture and the dent below could be cloned out, but they're not really a problem. Having only thought of your interpretation of this scene, I start to wonder now what is behind the glass. Very nice! Kind regards, Vincent

Thank you very much, Vincent; as always you are very generous with your appraisal. This was not my original title (A Day at the Zoo) but the more I looked at it, the more it reminded me of one of Francis Bacon's grotesqueries, not in regards to any one of his actual paintings but in spirit. The red color did remind me of the pope picture but in researching it after your comment, the robe was not so bright; it was more a combination of that image and the crimson red he employed in some of his later paintings. As to what this actually is, if I recall it was some rags and odds and ends in a store room behind a frosted window. Thanks again for your contributions to this site. It would be a far more interesting place if we had more than just yourself and a handful of others to create a stimulating environment with their critiques and comments. To me, that's what community is all about.

Human zoo?

Extraordinary picture! The subject seems to me to be some sort of Alice in Wonderland walrus, all dressed up, but really threatening. Great stuff.

As the father of empiricism, yes, your photo does strike me on the sensorial level to experience this......this.....this.....(I still cannot muster a word for this)... ah, yes, giant fly, photographed frontally with the eyes and long appendices, with a red coat, looking who to bite....Sends shivers and produces goose pimples. Now I gather why you chose the title so academically perfect. Always with great admiration and respect for a photography class on its own. DG