Cohabitants (book)

Cohabitants Chris Hewitson ©2022

Cohabitants

in southern France where economic and social change is bringing wildlife and humans into increasing contact.

t

trail cameras to photograph animal and human in my orchard, seeking to answer the question: how do humans and als live together on this terrain?

ography

Sustaining Strategies ‘Tool Boxʼ, I encountered ‘non-humanʼ photography and in my reading came across Zylinska's , p 75) assertion that:

life is indeed photographic the notion of the photographic apparatus that embraces, yet also goes beyond, the human mes fundamental to our understanding of what we have called the ‘photographic condition”.

this as validation of remote cameras and was doubly enthused when I was simultaneously, introduced to the remote ra work of Stephen Gill (2017, 2019).

encouraged to experiment, I purchased three trail cameras, powered with rechargeable batteries, and fitted with ory cards. I mounted the cameras on the trunks of fruit trees focusing on a central area of the orchard.

cameras are triggered by movement and employ infrared technology, so wary animals are not disturbed by noise or and are ignored or not noticed by humans during the day. Taking advantage of the trail cameraʼs automated features, I t settings to take both stills and video. Boar like to rub against trees, so frequently interfere with the cameras, thus I d to these daily and upload work to a computer, organising and interrogating data as I proceed.

The ever-watchful eye of the lens showed my orchard being visited by boar, badgers, and foxes nightly. Indeed, there are some nights when, for several hours at a time, a procession of different animals come and go, never at the same time. The cameras show that human activity mostly takes place during the cool of the morning when neighbours cross to attend their gardens. But occasionally, during siesta times, the camera shows strangers entering the orchard to steal fruit when they thought nobody was looking.

As I studied and analysed the photographs and video, I saw the similarities between many of the actions of the ‘day humansʼ and ‘night animalsʼ such as foraging and picking fruit or simply moving around the trees. It seemed such a long way from the feared ‘human-animal conflictʼ prominent in local political discourse.

Presentation of work Photographs are presented in black and white to emphasise they share the same space and retain the data stamp of images where this exists. In consonance with the ethos of Sustainable Strategies, I have not prepared a print version but am sharing this work as an ISSUU online book.

Chris Hewitson, France August 2022

References Gill, Stephen (2017) ‘Night Processionʼ. London, Nobody Books.

Gill, Stephen (2019) ‘ʼThe Pillarʼ. London, Nobody Books.

Zylinska, Joanna (2017) ‘ Non-human Photographyʼ Cambridge Massachusetts, MIT Press

©2022