Animals are a diverse, complex and mysterious bunch, inextricably conjoined with humans in infinite ways. But we often ignore them, treat them as one giant homogeneous category, or measure them with standards that are meaningless to the animals themselves. Our relationships with them are also usually heavily weighted in our favour.

This unevenness is troubling, and the intense, ambivalent and bizarre relationships that humans build with other animals are fascinating. Anxious to show how unlike animals we are, we spend immense resources reinforcing the human-animal boundary. At the same time, we expend equally substantial resources searching for ourselves in animals, polishing “an animal mirror to look at ourselves” as Donna Haraway says.

My PhD research in human geography at the University of British Columbia revolves around using contemporary social theory, traditionally largely negligent of animals, to try to understand animal-human relationships. I also explore these relationships using documentary film and photography. Currently I study global live wildlife trade and the processes by and systems through which animals’ lives and bodies are transformed into commodities that can be sold, bought, and owned.

This website is intended as a resource for people intrigued by animals and humans’ relationship to animals, and it includes links to my current and completed research. Photographs are mine unless otherwise noted.

Rosemary Collard, September 2010