Originally I was going to keep this projects under wraps in an attempt to create some kind of Blair Witch type internet frenzy. But now I think its time to show what I have been up to. Heres a statement of sorts;
People who
know me predominately as a landscape photographer may think of this
project as a departure from my work. However, my early interests in
photography came about
through sculptured forms such as nudes and various still life objects
and has always been a sideline to my work. If you combine this with my
interest in the beauty of decay often seen in my landscapes, its easy to
see the transition.
I have long
had a fascination with animal curiosities, be it taxidermy, creatures
suspended in formaldehyde, skeletons and in this case the skull itself.
Memories of
trips to the local museum on a rainy day in the summer holidays are
something I still hold dear with its glass boxes full of interesting and
exciting beasts.
The actual
idea for the Calvariams series started after seeing an image of a pet cat
skull. With its big eye sockets and teeth, it looked liked some kind of
alien monster,
and not some cute fluffy kitten. Intrigued I began looking at other
animals skulls and became fascinated at the way different species looked
in their afterlife..
The zoology
department at the Grant university has the largest collection of animal
skulls in the UK. They very kindly allowed me access and I cannot thank
them enough
as with out them this series would not exist.
As a
photographer this project is very much about the striking visual form
and textures of a skull as an object. But I soon became interested in
the animals themselves
and there genetic make up; For example, seeing the size of a crocodiles
brain cavity, which is about the size of a peanut simply because it is a
predator and does not need a large brain to function.
Several of
the skulls in the project are from animals now sadly considered
endangered or even extinct such as the Tasmanian Tiger. Although I have
tried to keep the edit
very much on a visual aesthetic, when you know something is no longer
around or very rare, you kind of want it in the show..
The visual
impulse for such a project was to shoot the skulls from the front or the
side. But I had seen this many times before including Irving Penns
wonderful Cranium
Architecture series.
Choosing to
to shoot the skulls from above was a bit of a risk as I was unsure how
certain skulls would look having only seen them from the side and front
in the museum
catalogue. It can be tricky to go against your first instincts, but one
thing I have learnt with landscape photography is that the best images
are often not what your eyes see first.
I
deliberately chose not to give any scale to the images so you could be
looking at a skull which in reality only measures a few inches.
I like to
think of the final images as being similar to Inkblots. They can be
interpreted visually in different ways depending on the individual.
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