Branch

I love this book by artist/photographer Paula McCartney. It's cunning and witty. At first glance it looks like a simple record of an ornithologist's observations but it's not long before an uneasiness comes over you and you start to wonder why the birds just aren't quite right. Closer scrutiny tells you it's because they're not real. McCartney has faked it all. She wires replica birds onto branches and photographs them from a viewpoint that is just at the edge of clarity; you can see the birds but you don't immediately twig (pardon the pun) that they're artificial. The photos are accompanied by labels, cataloguing the observations, written as if they're genuine sightings.

It could so easily have seemed farcical – like it's all a joke – but because it's handled with subtlety and seriousness, instead, it's witty and beautiful. More about Bird Watching here.

Comments

[Aron]

I'd love to see this book in person