Alžběta Kovandová, PhD candidate in Film: Practice as Research in the School of Arts, has recently had her essay, titled ‘Of Foxes and Men’, published in e-journal Anima Loci.
Anima Loci provides an interdisciplinary exploration of the ever-changing and often obscure relationship between images and the places they dwell.
Sharing the fabric of our cities with wild animals is the norm. As long as they do not encroach upon the boundaries of the domestic wall, the space in which we live is also that of birds, mice, insects and other species. In London, urban foxes are the most iconic yet fragile manifestation of this inevitable coexistence. Alžběta shares her thoughts and personal experience of these fleeting encounters.
‘One might argue that seeing a fox is the same as seeing a cat or a pigeon. Well, not for me. It was unexpected and somewhat surreal for me to meet an animal that I associate so much with wild nature in the streets of London’ writes Alžběta. ‘They are not very common in Prague; and in Liverpool where nature bursts through the city only very hesitantly, it is rather rare to encounter any animal passing through the streets. I, therefore, strongly associate foxes with London and these wild non-human city dwellers, with their amazing ability to find a home in the concrete jungle, have influenced my perception of the city’.
The full essay can be read on Anima Loci’s website:
https://animaloci.org/of-foxes-and-men/