The Lost Bird Series
The Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta) in my photographs appeared on my threshold, one afternoon, the result of an unknown mishap. We seldom have the opportunity to be so close to a bird, the experience for me was humbling. Not wanting to interfere with her too much, I felt compelled however; to record her lost life, which even in death seemed so profound.It became apparent in the images that this frail bird began to act a metaphor. She filled the viewer with a sense of vulnerability, pathos and fragility of life itself. The focus of this body of work, then, is to explore the concept of sorrow and loss through the depiction of an archetypal symbol of nature, the bird. Further reflection reveals that in mythology birds are seen as messengers of the deities. They are often associated with the journey of the human soul after death.Typically, birds are thought of as symbols of power and strength. Subjectivity is merged with the natural world to expand the psychological nuances of the images. My images link the human world to the divine or supernatural realms that lie beyond ordinary experience; the bird in my photographs represents at times strength, lightness, wisdom, otherness and mourning.
Here, I hope I have honoured her life.
Lost Bird_III
Lost Bird_VIII
