The Art Of Healing Animals | Moscow – Edge of Humanity Magazine

Documentary Photographer Raisa Mikhailova is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From the project ‘Art of Healing’. To see Raisa’s body of work click on any image.

Doctor Shelyakov is performing a operation on the dog.

In the course of an operation a stream of blood splashed in the face of the surgeon.

In ancient times, medicine was considered an art and equated with magical rituals.

“Medicine is not merely a science but an art. – claimed Paracelsus, a Swiss alchemist and philosopher of the first half of the XVI century. -The character of the physician may act more powerfully upon the patient than the drugs employed”.

The origins of veterinary medicine also date back to the distant past. Even in the third millennium BC, during the Sumerian civilization, there were references to “doctors of donkeys and bulls.” Healing animals is a special art, animals can not tell what hurts them, they are not always ready to make contact and need a great love and sensitivity of a person who can help them. Therefore, veterinary medicine is a special art that requires not only virtuosic skills and professionalism, but also doctors’ bleeding hearts.

In the operating room. Doctor Shelyakov and his team at work.

Veterinarian holding a cat in the operating room.

When shooting, the exposure compensation was set to achieve a certain combination of light and shadow, which was supposed to associate photography with the painting of old masters in order to emphasize the idea of Paracelsus – that Medicine was not merely a science but an art.