iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Happy Holiday ~ |
This was taken, if you've been following, on the platform at Les Halles station in Paris, a total surreptitious grab shot, although the moggy in question does seem to be aware of something going on.
I guess he's not on holiday - probably just been taken to the vet or being dropped off at someone's before his owners go off to enjoy themselves cat-free for a couple of weeks.
'What are they thinking?' always crosses my mind when I see animals in such a situation. Do they know what's going on? Are they scared for their lives or just sleepily resigned to the situation? I guess we'll never really know, and maybe they do get used to it and are comforted by their owner's familiar tones comforting them from time to time.
That's the funny thing of not being able to talk to animals - to what extent do we know what they're thinking or even how they're thinking. Surely not like us. With much simpler emotions, I suppose. Perhaps only being concerned with the first couple of levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs pyramid, for example: food, water, sex, sleep, excretion and why not security, health, employment and a family to belong to. But over and above that, probably not much. Are they happy? Is happiness a valid emotion to anthropomorphise onto these beasts we like to think of as our friends? I'm not so sure, but I'm not so sure it isn't either. After all, what do we really know?
Well we know we can put them in a cage and cart them around the train system of Paris for a while and they'll probably be none the worse for it. But do they mind? Do they have a choice? Do they know what choice is? Does it matter? I'm not telling, I'm asking.
_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.
© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment