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A posse of professionals gone mascots have been walking the streets of the UK together nonchalantly for years. Their claim to fame is the lack fame, by keeping their personal identities absolutely private. They do not interview with journalists under any circumstances. The key here is socially interacting, gesturing, dressing as if it is common to see a life sized stuffed animal walking their dog, commuting to work, briefcase and all, or themselves, staring at street venders like the rest of the public. Their trademark has become amusing to society, so much that when photographer Tom Broadbent earned their trust to use them as subjects for his series At Home With The Furries, he made sure to tread lightly.
Besides creating a scene, these entertainers work regular jobs as bankers, seamstress, computer programmers, engineers, actors.The artist has stepped into their everyday behind the curtain of performance into their homes, wearing their clothes, capturing them busy doing things they enjoy. With their childlike hearts and boisterous sense of humor we find ourselves jealous for their furry double lives, putting aside responsibility and poise with a free pass to pretend and play fearlessly.
The photographer tells us the story of how this series began, “The first rule of being a furry is to never ever reveal your identity, your non-furry self…. I wanted to find a way to show their personal lives without breaking the first rule of being a furry. So At Home With The Furries was born.”
There’s a sea otter, a wolf, a fox, a deer, a sheep just to mention a few. Along with some mythical creatures too like a gargoyle, a gryphon, a sergal. Together the actors and their suits are fantastically whimsical and curiously natural in human idiosyncrasies.
