Hasan G. López Sanz has a Doctor of Philosophy and a degree in Philosophy and Social and Cultural Anthropology. Associate Professor of the Faculty of Philosophy and Educational Sciences of the University of Valencia and of the Master in Photography, Art and Technology of the Polytechnic University of Valencia.
“A decade ago, while I was carrying out doctoral research in Paris on the relationships between photography and anthropology, I had the opportunity to learn about a phenomenon that from the first moment caught my attention: what some specialists had called human zoos. The general formula, modeled after the exhibitions organized by the promoter Carl Hagenbeck in the Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris in the second half of the 19th century, was apparently simple.
If we take a human group belonging to an exotic society, bring it to Europe – voluntarily or by force – and place it in a fenced enclosure recreating the natural environment in which it lives as is done in wild animal zoos, we will be able to learn about first-hand their appearance and customs without moving us away from the warmth of home or endangering our lives.”
