Trapped in Space: A Senior Surreal Photo by Ada Parnanen (2017)

Trapped in space, the octopus confines itself to traditions. From a young age, we are taught that certain animals are pets, while others are food. In the US, even though 300 animals are killed each second due to animal agriculture, we accept this as something that is normal. Animal agriculture leads to environmental issues, creates health problems, and takes away animal rights. We decide what type of world that we want to live in with every purchase that we make. It’s important to realize that we can try something new and stop confining ourselves, in order to promote equality and a more peaceful world.

I first photographed foods such as spaghetti and pineapples, which I combined with a squirrel and objects such as a light bulb and carpet. These objects help form two animals, a squirrel and an octopus. This helps emphasize the fact that we often view animals and food as the same thing. I used Photoshop to combine the photographs together, create the background, and edit some of the colors.