ENDANGERED: Fine Art & Photography Contest 2020 Submission

We visit natural history museums for a glimpse of our natural world, a world we often do not experience first hand. We view animals from far off places at a safe distance. Dioramas (and photographs) create a framed moment of nature frozen in time. The more closely they resemble an actual space and event, the more closely the taxidermied animals appear to breathe life, the deeper our sense of wonder and connection.

UnNatural History is a collection of photographs shot in natural history museums and taxidermy shops in the US and abroad. Using reflection and the inclusion of items within the diorama's case meant to remain unseen, the work points to its unreality and the disconnection within the human/animal relationship.

It is this dichotomy between the real and the unreal, the version of life portrayed and the actuality of death, the inherent beauty of the animals within their fabricated environment, and the understanding of its invention, which finds me both attracted and repelled.

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