Birds
A few more images of birds over the years, culled from various projects. A bunch more birds are in the Trying To Learn to Say the Same Thing page, and here & there elsewhere.
I started out photographing birds because I saw them as an emotional fulcrum of the photograph. I liked how abject or joyful they could be, depending on the circumstances. I also felt nostalgic about some chickens I'd photographed in 1994, and decided to make cut-outs of those chickens and bring them out to photograph. This way the bird could activate the landscape. Eventually I ran into some (non-cutout) swans, and so them as a way to continue working. It was amazing that such beautiful (by universal acknowledgment) animals existed and could be met at the average pond with the aid of a bit of stale bread! When I moved to NY, I would go to a park on the East River and photograph the seagulls, fighting with each other for bread. What a wonderful subject! Birds are everywhere! Soon I met some terribly sad ducks, by a Maine lake, and would visit them at twilight! Much later, a fake crow came to my aid.