Thursday, August 20, 2009

underdogs


photo found on malluworld.org

photo found on autoblog green

photo found on impact lab

so basically, i'm forever amazed by dogs— and these rawboned stray dog hustlers of moscow have taken my amazement to a whole new level. apparently when the soviet union collapsed in the 1990's, industrial complexes were moved from the city center to the suburbs, and this shift forced the stray dogs to change their survival strategies. they had always used the industrial complexes as safe shelters to sleep in at night, but during the day they foraged for food in the city streets where scraps were more accessible and plentiful. but once their shelters were moved to the suburbs, they had to start commuting to the city center to still get to that easy food. so guess what?— they figured out how to use the subway. can it get any more wonderful than that? can it get any more absurd and astonishing? can it get any more real, any simpler? i mean, of course they figured it out, they had to. these are the kind of dogs i'd want to hang out with— duck in and out of shadows with, weave through streets and legs and noise with, learn a few tricks from. these guys have it down, they travel to the city to eat, and then in the evenings they go back to the suburbs. they are like businessmen going to the city to make shit happen, to earn what they need to live. just for a minute i want to let myself imagine them in suits and ties, holding briefcases, serious and tired, preparing themselves for the day ahead. oh yeah, you know what else? they like to just chill out in the subway in the winter to stay warm (enduring a moscow winter can't be fun), and they know what's up in traffic (when to cross, when not to), and they know how to get the last bite of whatever you're eating out of your hand.
check out this video of a little scrapper waiting for his train

1 comment:

Bárbara Lopes said...

These pictures breaks my heart, cause I really love these angels.