"Be careful, Stefan—those are sadists," my grandmother warned me after seeing the first photos from my project on Petplay. The day before, she had googled the term and discovered its roots in the BDSM scene.

“It can be something entirely different,” Toffi tells me. He’s a social Petplayer and a board member of Freie Wuffel e.V. in Hanover. “We want to escape everyday life, switch off, and loose the social norms and expectations by stepping into a completely different role—not necessarily another human character, but an animal. One that doesn’t carry the burdens of fear, pressure, or rules. For me, it’s about living according to my own ideal of being multifaceted, and I think everyone in our group longs for a space where they don’t have to hide, where they can live out this side of themselves.”

I first met Toffi half a year ago at the Kröpcke subway station in Hanover. He was standing with two other “Wuffels” near a concrete pillar. One of them was on a leash. All three wore dog masks—known as hoods. I was nervous when I approached them to ask for a photo. But my nervousness quickly faded as I was met with a welcoming group that immediately invited me to learn more about their community. I soon understood the motto behind Petplay: escape the everyday, enter the headspace.

Role-playing is deeply embedded in our culture—whether it’s medieval fairs, cosplay, or playing “farm” as children. Petplay, which originates in the BDSM scene, is often strongly sexualized or misunderstood. But Petplay is not inherently sexual.

The work offers a glimpse into the playful world of social Petplay and encourages reflection on our assumptions about it. The sexual element that many might expect is absent from this story. Instead, the images reveal the everyday lives of a community brought together by their shared passion—people who have created a space where they can simply be themselves.