Art&Culture
More than jaw strength
Photographer Carlos Sanva explores the way humans project themselves onto pit bulls, and what that means from a social point of view.
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More than jaw strength
There is no doubt pit bulls have had their fair share of bad press. With a trail of myths following them around (note: not all pit bull owners belong to bikie gangs or dog fight clubs), pit bulls are not for everyone. Yet, for fans of the breed, they represents a whole lot more than sheer strength, servitude or aggression.
These are the notions that fascinated Carlos Sanva, the Madrid-based photographer who set to explore the way humans project themselves onto pit bulls and what all this means from a social point of view.
After watching a video on YouTube feauturing the (now famous) pit bull Perla, Carlos contacted Perla’s proud owner in Argentina and flew over to photograph this incredibly strong creature capable of pulling a car with her own teeth. The result is the photographic series Supermen (informed also by the Superman syndrome). ”Supermen is a meditation on the will of human power based on direct experience working with American pitbull terriers in controlled environments. Dogs are always subjected to human will that moulds each one’s character (through selection and training). Thereby, by observing their behavior, we can identify some of our own similarities in turn” Carlos explains.
“On a physical level, Superman syndrome is an anomaly in gender chromosomes when a male receives an extra Y chromosome, producing the 47.XYY karyotype. Throughout history, some scientists have fervently defended the notion, without being able to offer concrete results, that certain violent characteristics are directly related to this genetic accident” he adds.
These images are confronting, extremely physical, masculine. They resonate in your head (I can hear the panting, the struggle, the commands) as much as they get fixed in your mind, taking control. The shots left me wondering about pre-conceptions and all the shades of grey in between (is surprising to find out that Perla is allowed to sleep on the bed with her owners, and that she even got some fancy dentistry to correct her teeth).
Like most of Carlos’ work, the project focuses on the space created by social behaviour, history, symbols, to become a metaphor about the way we pre-concieve the rest of the world. As he explains “these independent projects are interested in affirming that the world is indeed a very strange place, and they are marked by a profound irony that calls into question specific social codes”.
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All images courtesy of Carlos Salva
To see more of Carlos’s work, click here
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Art&Culture
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