About the Collection

Complex Coexistence is a series that portrays the intricate and interdependent relationship between humans and animals in urban environments. Through candid street photography, this collection offers a glimpse into the diverse ways we coexist, from reverence and care to commerce and survival. From revered Sika deer in Japan who have coexisted with locals for over 1,000 years as well as monkeys in Nepal viewed as descendants of the HIndu god of Hanuman to the shadow of a camel being led to slaughter and the shadow of a bird waiting to grab a dead fish baking under the sun, the daily scenes are complex both visually and culturally. The photographs in this series are from 9 cities spanning 7 countries in 3 continents.

©Jonathan Jasberg

A boy leans out of his home window to greet a stray dog. Cairo, Egypt
A stray cat in the old medina of Tunis, Tunisia going to eat out of one of the many food bowls left out by the community for the cats.
Boys in Kathamandu, Nepal share their popsicle with a monkey carrying a baby.
A Sika deer bows before retrieving a biscuit from a person walking through Nara, Japan
A young man shops for ornamental fish at a market in Kolkata, India.
A crow and an ominous doppelgänger shadow wait to swoop down and grab some dry fish in a small village in Sri Lanka.
A camel being loaded up into a truck after being sold for its meat. Birqash, Egypt
Traditional Mexican cowboys known as Charros performing in a Charreria in Oaxaca, Mexico.
©Jonathan Jasperg