Aviary The Bird in Contemporary Photography

Aviary presents the work of more than fifty internationally recognized photographers who explore our complex relationship with birds, questioning how we observe them and respond to their presence—and vice versa. Rather than being organized by field of study or species, Aviary surveys the symbiotic relationship between animals and humans through six thematic chapters imagined as “Acts” in a theatrical pageant.

Photographs of birds feature rarely in the early decades of photography: birds were too fast to be captured in flight and could not be depicted in color, limitations that took many years to rectify. Today, however, with superb technical means at their disposal, photographers have taken to the subject with great enthusiasm, inspired by our everincreasing understanding and appreciation of avian complexity. Taking an eclectic curatorial approach, authors Danaé Panchaud and William A. Ewing weave together photography from the diverse fields of art, documentary, fashion, portraiture, ornithology, and wildlife photography into six “Acts” that propose intriguing new dialogues and visual theater between these different modes of photographic expression. Aviary features over two hundred photographs from leading image-makers including Leila Jeffreys, Sarah Moon, Roger Ballen, Vik Muniz, Tim Flach, Viviane Sassen, Robert Clark, and Nadav Kander, among many others.

An essential, visual study of the relationship—beautiful, complex, and occasionally dark—between humans and birds.