David Hoekje

Olympia, Washington

This series of images depicts domesticated animals in a variety of roles: as companions, laborers, and/or resources. Within all these roles there is an underlying subjugation of the animal. It is my hope that these images belay some of the tension inherent in this subjugation- a tension between the natural and unnatural, owner and owned, the photographer and subject.

I spend a lot of my time cooking and cleaning in the home and I think about my own domestication and the transformations that take place over a lifetime. Am I subjugated by my domestic routines or is it a luxury to be able to spend as much time as I do attending to the minutiae of daily meals and tidied rooms. The process of domestication is historical rather than intentional. It spans thousands of years, hundreds of lifetimes, and I wonder how it is I have managed to arrive at home.