Cow Surgery I

Late at night, on the farm, after many years, we finally get to see our friend at his work. He was called to the barn for an emergency - a sick cow in need of surgery to save her life. He invited us to come and watch the surgery.

This photo shows the cow before the surgery, in the cow "operating room". This photo is was actually taken after the surgery was over so that you can see the cow has survived and looks fine. I was very proud of myself that I was in no way grossed out or disturbed - I photographed the entire surgery from start to finish. The cow is given local anesthetic and stays awake through the entire process. The surgery consists of the vet cutting a whole in the cow's side, reaching her arm into the cow up to the armpit, grabbing the stomach that has wandered over to the wrong side of the cows body, pulling it back into position, sewing it to the cow's side so it can't go wandering again, and then closing the incision.

A note about cow surgery:
There are explicit, graphic, photos that I will post to flickr shortly if anyone is interested. I won't show anything gross here so click forward without worry!

A note about the photographs:
Cow surgeries take place in a barn. The barn is dark. The barn is darker at night. There are a few very bright bare lightbulbs and work lamps hanging in a dark room. This is a very tricky lighting situation. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself. Also, barns are messy and designed to be functional - not necessarily photogenic. I cannot move things like gates made of iron bars that are in the way of my shot. This was also my first cow surgery so I am fairly pleased with the results. Are they the greatest photographs ever? No. Could someone else have photographed the cow surgery better? Yes. Am I making a living shooting cow surgeries? No. J, are you satisfied with this disclaimer about how not great my cow surgery photos are?