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Refuge GroinGroin : Laurent Baheux : de l’art & du cochon

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In the pig, everything is good, the saying goes;

what Laurent Baheux would correct by “everything is beautiful” by offering the adored and denigrated animal a series of simple and tender black and white scenes and portraits, prizes in French farms and shelters which work for a better consideration of the suidae.

As an extension of his activism and his antispeciesist discourse, Laurent explores a new artistic subject on the fringes of the paths of the African savannah, the plains of the American West and the frozen deserts of the Arctic.

Outside the walls of industrial farms, free and in the open air, Laurent’s farm bestiary takes on substance and presence. Pigs, sheep, goats, horses, cows, chickens, ducks, rabbits and even turkeys are captured by the portrait photographer who likes to reveal the identity and personality of his subjects.

These are the men who understand psychological barriers by naming, classifying, sorting and organizing according to their interests …

“What I’m looking for is that stealthy moment where the picture will give the character of the animal. As I have tried to do with wildlife by avoiding naturalistic approaches and magnifying my subject, I want to demonstrate that there are no boundaries between animals. Wild, companion, farm or pest, the animal remains a sensitive individual, capable of loving, hating, being afraid and suffering. It is the men who classify, sort, order and organize according to their needs and priorities, often for the sake of practicality, productivity and profitability.”

The first photographs were presented in 2018 in the book ANIMALITÉ co-written with the philosopher Audrey Jougla and published on the day of World Meatless Day. It will be the starting point of a rich collection of a hundred monochrome images, a selection of which is presented in DE L’ART & DU COCHON.

Wild or domestic: intimately linked animal stories

This new photographic series echoes the link between farm animals and wild animals. When the former increase, the latter decrease. Laurent explains that “100 billion animals will be ‘produced’ each year by 2050 to meet the global meat consumption which has already doubled between 1960 and 2020. A massive deforestation already in action is necessary because 70% of agricultural land are used to feed livestock without taking into account the pollution of soil, water and air which are linked to it. ” Thus, the tragic fate reserved to wildlife inevitably depends on which one will feed our plate. More meat = less preserved spaces and ecosystems.

These figures which make you dizzy above all make the photographer want to help change our looks, to go beyond our only gustatory pleasures and to change our habits… food and clothing of course.

 

Laurent Baheux : de l’art & du cochon

le bestiaire fermier hors les murs,

en liberté et en plein air

July 3 – September 4, 2021

Refuge GroinGroin

La Guichardière

72140 Neuvillette en Charnie

www.groingroin.org

www.laurentbaheux.com

 

 

 

 

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