In On the Sixth Day (1996-2004), Alessandra Sanguinetti draws on myth and fable, focusing on the interaction and interdependence between humans and domesticated animals in the countryside outside Buenos Aires, Argentina. Frequently photographing from the vantage point of her subjects – including lambs, cows, horses, pigs, chickens, dogs, and rabbits – the artist acts as a witness to moments where life and death hang in the balance. Local roadsides, woods, and farm fields provide a backdrop for each scene.

Utilizing the trope of the fable, Sanguinetti makes images in which animals and humans act as doubles for each other. The artist states, “To portray an animal is to name it. Once named it acquires a new life, and then, is spared death. Each sacrifice gives us back a disturbing image of the border we cross when we end a life, and what it entails to have sole dominion over another living creature. It is possible that by exploring the fine line that separates us from what we rule, we may reach a better understanding of our own nature.”