Having grown up around her father’s farm in rural Argentina from the age of seven, Sanguinetti often felt a deep sense of empathy for the flocks of animals. From a first-person vantage point, she shows the intricate details of intra and interspecies conflict and harmony: two young sheep tied together by a short rope, one pulling the other in an opposing direction; a foal nursing underneath its mother; dogs cornering a boar, teeth bared. Images depicting birth, death, and slaughter are par for the course, though always shown with an air of respect. In each breathtaking image, there is a full tableau vivant—an allegory or fable that brings the animals’ daily dramas to light.
Of the new edition, Sanguinetti told VF, “The images I added [to the book] had always been swirling in my head as missing. For example, the image of the man’s arms surrounding the red cow’s head at night. It could be a caring gesture or an oppressing one. Those two seemingly opposing gestures are constantly hand in hand in how we treat animals.” More than 25 years later, her love for the land, farmers, and creatures remains the same as it did when she was a child: “I still see [the animals] as individuals that deserve to live in peace and be treated with care.”
Selected prints from On the Sixth Day along with past series The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and Some Say Ice are on view at Webber Gallery in Los Angeles until November 30. The new edition of On the Sixth Day is available for purchase online here.