The Illusion of Preservation

This series captures Birmingham Zoo’s decline, from lively community space to neglect. Nostalgic, overgrown exhibits reflect a shift from care to commerce, quietly reminding us how shared memory and nostalgia fade when profit comes first.

Through images of aging enclosures, broken attractions, and absent animals, I highlight the disconnect between the zoo’s marketed image and its lived reality. My focus centers on the primate, predator, and reptile exhibits; spaces once rich with emotional memory, now overlooked. By drawing attention to out-of-service activities and overgrown surroundings, the work invites reflection on how communal memory is lost when care is replaced by commercial intent.