How do we make sense of animals? Gregory Bateson says we understand them when we see “the pattern which connects.” I think about that while wandering through animal fairs, camera in hand. The way a handler and his prize bull stand the same way. A horse trainer brushing back her hair as she combs a mare’s mane. The quiet gaze of a lizard in a glass case, watching us watch it.

Recently, I photographed at La Rural, the biggest livestock fair in Latin America, the Argentine Angus show, and a horse fair. These places—loud, dusty, full of life—expose our complex relationships with animals. They’re spaces of admiration and transaction, where animals are judged, displayed, and sometimes loved.

Yet beyond the fairgrounds, Big Food turns animals into invisible products, processing them at industrial scale behind closed doors. As species vanish and biodiversity declines, these connections feel more fragile. The way we see animals shapes how we treat them and their future. Maybe these fairs, these fleeting interactions, hold a clue. Or maybe they just leave us with better questions.