This is not for the faint of the heart. Or vegetarians.
It has to do with our hypocrisy of not facing the truth. We love to eat but seldom think that we started to be hunters.
What will follow are the ambrosian products using what looks like carnage.
PS. I did not post the first three images to promote vegetarianism. I am not one although I eat very little meat comparing with vegetables. Meat is just the condiment.The images are what I saw.
These shots are taken either inside the butcher shops or in their window
Indeed "our culture has totally sanitized the reality of consumption of meat," but this process began 10,000 years ago. Civilization itself is a form of sanitation. Sanity is sanitation.
The brutality of eating meat is natural. Of course, theft, murder, and rape are also natural. Civilization has been a process of deciding what to keep, what to exalt, and what to hide.
Personally, I'm more concerned with the cover up of climate change.
But sometimes (to the chagrin of the self-consciously "cultured") art is the opposite of civilization. Art pulls back the curtain. That's why a simple act of photojournalism, like this mini-essay, is also art.
Spending time abroad, Asia in particular, this is one of the first things you notice. Life spills out onto the streets and isn't hidden behind closed doors. Your essay shows, in stark terms, meat freshly brought to market. Very powerful subject and perfect for an essay. Your photography worked so well because you stayed out of the way.
I was a happy carnivore until my husband suffered a heart attack and quadruple bypass 5 years ago. The cardiologist was livid and said it was totally preventable, and blamed our diet. He put my husband (and me by default) on the uber vegan Essylstein eating plan - no meat, no dairy, no eggs, no added oils, no coconuts.... if it has a face or a mother, he can't eat it. It was not an easy transition, but his health improved dramatically, and now, after five years, I do not miss rib-eyes so much. I'm not saying that it is appropriate for everyone, and I certainly don't advocate that anyone change their preferences, unless their health demands it. I still miss real cheese...
That said, I agree with Bill that our culture has totally sanitized the reality of consumption of meat. It doesn't just grow inside a foam tray with plastic covering. My kids were all in 4-H and raised various animals for market. They have all grown up being well aware of where meat comes from and what sacrifices need to occur to produce it.
This is the part I don't like to think about and I grew up in a household where my parents butchered their own chickens. That's the way it was back then.
i totally agree with Bill .. there is such horror involved in the raising and slaughtering of the animals we eat .. unimaginable .. if ppl actually knew what went on there would be a tremendous outcry and something would have to change .. but because of the masking .. as bill says .. very little is done .. those animals are in our care .. those animals have feelings too .. it actually traumatizes me .. if ppl want to eat meat there are much more humane ways of doing it ..
i havent seen the rest of your series yet .. but the face on that nearest animal .. no words ..
Facsinating series, mariuca. It would be a very different world, indeed, if this were the tableau brought to mind when we engage our carnivorous tendencies. Contemporary urban culture has done a remarkable job of masking the reality of our consumption of flesh.
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