Furries are people too.

“What is a fursona and why do people make them?” were the questions I set out to answer in taking my camera gear to Anthrocon this year. I have always wanted to do a photo-essay that explored both aspects of furries, their self and their fursona, in the same image. I’ve always assumed the best way to do this is multiple exposure photography.

So I asked more than 80 fursuiters the strangest request they’ve probably ever received at a convention: for me to photograph them without their fursuit on. Many were reluctant, some refused, and a few were outright hostile to the idea. But the vast majority of suiters, when the project was explained to them, were fascinated by the idea. I suspect my idea deeply resonated with many fursuiters because the fursona and the self are inextricably linked. Any photograph that doesn’t capture both is an incomplete picture.

I learned many things from the brief exchanges I had with my participants. I have deep respect for everyone who helped me realize my vision. In each person I saw not just a suit or a subject, but a thinking and feeling human being. Every person I photographed was overflowing with kindness, generosity, joy, desires, aversions, and fears. Through the viewfinder of my camera I witnessed the full circle of humanity, and furries were the compass that drew the circumference.

After explaining the project, I gave my participants only two instructions: 1) try to make the same pose for both pictures and 2) make a pose that, you think, best expresses who you are. In the resulting images was convergence and juxtaposition. Some fursonas highly resemble the people behind them, others do not. This was often revealed through facial expressions, which were not limited by the “same pose” instruction I gave people.

So what is a fursona and why do people make them? The answer to those questions is unique to every individual furry. The truth of the matter is that a fursona can be an ideal, an actual, or an ought; a fursona can be an own or an other. Some furries are running from themselves, others are running toward themselves, while others want another self they can have at the same time. The fursona is a central aspect of any (and more) of these processes of self-discovery and self-construction in furries. It is created to help us understand who we are, who we aren’t, and who we would like to be.

My only regrets in doing this project are that I did not have cards printed up with my contact information to give to my participants, and I didn’t catch all of their names. For the people I have not been able to identify I kindly ask that, if you know them, please tell me who they are.

A practical suggestion on how to enjoy these images: Multiple exposure photographs can be very confusing to look at upon first glance. My advice is try to focus your attention on the person first, then their fursuit, then both together as a single composite. What you discover about who you are looking at, and yourself, may come as a surprise!