BIRDING is a body of work about the human gaze, exploring the optical and psychological processes at play when humans look at nature, particularly focusing on birdwatching and the projections that take place between watcher and bird.
Using moving image and photography to depict wild birds, trained birds and taxidermy specimens, Daniel & Clara engage with the various ways in which we have looked at and studied birds through history and the role images play in understanding our relationship to the natural world.
The history of birdwatching and the history of photography run in interesting parallels, both primarily lens-based activities in which the development of optical tools enabled enhanced human vision. The works here draw on various stages of this history, from the use of early photographic lenses, stereographic and lenticular effects and various techniques for enhancing our ways of seeing and capturing the world around us.
BIRDING continues Daniel & Clara’s investigation into the environmental crisis as a psychological crisis, a moment when as a species we must confront the deep-rooted perception that the human is above or separate from nature, and imagine new relationships between the human and the non-human.
This project has been made possible with funding from Arts Council England.
Using moving image and photography to depict wild birds, trained birds and taxidermy specimens, Daniel & Clara engage with the various ways in which we have looked at and studied birds through history and the role images play in understanding our relationship to the natural world.
The history of birdwatching and the history of photography run in interesting parallels, both primarily lens-based activities in which the development of optical tools enabled enhanced human vision. The works here draw on various stages of this history, from the use of early photographic lenses, stereographic and lenticular effects and various techniques for enhancing our ways of seeing and capturing the world around us.
BIRDING continues Daniel & Clara’s investigation into the environmental crisis as a psychological crisis, a moment when as a species we must confront the deep-rooted perception that the human is above or separate from nature, and imagine new relationships between the human and the non-human.
This project has been made possible with funding from Arts Council England.
When I Look At You I See Myself, single channel video, 2023, 4k, silent, 17min