'I'm not going to live by their rules anymore.'
Phil Connors, Groundhog Day
Although I have sort of a mission statement, a philosophy I try to follow, I don't really have many rules for FH. When it comes to art, rules can be annoyingly restrictive. That being said, I've struggled whenever an artist includes fur in their imagery. I hate cruelty of any kind, and as an animal lover, the fur trade the most brutal of industries. When photographer Tom Nakielski (Lights On Studio) recently sent on this Groundhog Day themed hoot, I wrote him back that I didn't feel I was comfortable with sharing the shots.
This wasn't easy for me to do. I'd asked Tom to shoot something for the holiday. I knew Tom still had the stuffed groundhog from his previous Groundhog Day shoot. I also loved Tony, the model Tom chose for the shoot. Tom has always created incredible holiday imagery for the site, creative imagery I continue to look forward to featuring. While I wasn't initially comfortable with using the shoots, me being me, I soon began to feel uncomfortable about not using them.
I didn't mind the fur so much, Tom assured me it was fake, he bought it years ago at a thrift store as a prop for his shoots. My issue was the combination of the fur coat with the way Tony was holding the poor stuffed Groundhog. The images looked almost like Tony was about to skin the poor rodent he just caught in his trap. It seemed a bit brutal to me.
Tom is always wonderful to work with and laughed at my response, he also assured me that he was more than fine if I chose not to use the images. He did however, want to clarify his and Tony's goal for the shoot. Tom assured me that skinning the adorable woodchuck wasn't on either he or Tony's mind.
'My idea for the shoot was that the rascally rodent saw his shadow and that Tony grabbed him to put him back in the ground where he belongs. Tony wanted to give him another chance to come out of his varmint dwelling and not see his shadow. '
Although Tom's explanation helped, I was till struck by how Tony was holding the groundhog upside down. The fact which really had me wanting to go ahead with featuring the images was Tom's response to my concern about the animal being harmed. Well, turns out the stunning and fake fur wearing Tony is also a Vet student/ Having handled many wild animals, not happy to be held or transported by a vet, Tony knew the best way to carry him back to his burrow was to extend his arm far away from his body and hold him by his leg far, This would prevent the groundhog from getting hurt, and as well, prevent Tony from getting bitten. The phrase Eye of the Beholder, really came into play for me with this shoot.
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