Exhibit Shows The Beauty Of Life With Animals
Sometimes a picture is just a picture. Then other times, pictures and the right words transform into something that touches the stars and the terrible beauty of life. The online photo exhibit arranged by Dr. Edward A. Wasserman, the Stuit Professor of Experimental Psychology at The University of Iowa, has photos and words that combine to reveal the magic we as Dogsters see in our lives with dogs (and cats).
Not all of the photos and essays are about dogs and cats but all of them will touch you and many will make you cry.
I thought that you might like to see the photographs from the two “Animals Among Us” exhibits produced by the “Animal Studies Group” at the University of Iowa now that they’re online as well as in two museums here in Iowa.
The exhibits are based on a statewide contest asking two groups (adults and kids) to submit a photograph of an animal with a 250-word essay on the significance of the animals among us.
You can see each of the exhibits by clicking on K-12 or adult. Then, click on an individual small picture and it will enlarge and include the short essay that the person wrote.
Here is the essay that accompanies the above photo by Joann M. Eland of Johnson County.
Gentle at any age.”
She grew up in the Great Depression along with her three brothers and her parents. On a carpenters salary, there was no money for anything but the most basic of human needs, and although there was always a roof over her head and she never went hungry, she also never had any little pets. It was not until she met my two toy poodles did she understand the devotion, the love and the joy of what many of us take for granted in living daily with our pets. Every day during the academic year, she comes to my home and lets the poodle brothers out of their kennels to go outdoors and then sits on the couch and talks to them. They have become an important part of her life and she of theirs. It came to my attention she had never experienced the joy of holding a soft puppy in her hands. So, a phone call to a local breeder resulted in a visit and this photo. At age 85 years, for the very first time, she held this dear little dog in her hands, held her to her chest, and listened to her coo her approval of the human contact.
Crying yet? You will be by the time you’ve seen just a few more of these memorable picture/essay sets.
