Animals at Work Gallery

I present a selection of my animals at work images to date here. They are an extension of the horse at work theme and it is such a vast subject that, as an individua,l I will only ever scratch the surface.

I feel a mix of sadness and admiration for many of these animals. The elephants particularly, go about their work with great dignity, they have an awesome presence that extends beyond their physical size. Photographing them I have felt they were watching me with real intelligence, if not understanding. At a log yard in India, struggling with his limited English, and trying to warn me that his elephant was in some way dangerous, one mahout said ‘The elephant is cruel’. It was an unfortunate choice of words as I reflected on who really was the cruel one?

Thankfully not all working animals are badly treated and many are treated more like royalty, which is a good thing, for harnessing animals to do our work will continue for years to come. As one use is phased out (how I wish I had found elephants shunting railway wagons on my travels), so more uses are found for animals. Dogs, for example, are being used increasingly to sniff out drugs, explosives or earthquake victims. I will not run out of subjects to photograph within this theme!