Bird in hand photos

By David Pescovitz at 8:42 pm Sunday, Feb 19

The Bird Hand Book is a collection of photographs that Victor Schrager took of more than 100 species of birds held in the hands by ornithologists. Many of the photos can be viewed in an online gallery at the Musarium. From an interview with Schrager on the site:

You must feel a strong connection with birds to begin such a massive project – what do they represent for you?
Actually, my interest at the beginning was in the birds' names – the poetic and allusive qualities that their names present. I felt there might be an interesting irony between the vagueness of generalized bird forms and the specificity of the names. The fascinating detail and structure of the birds, in combination with the variable element of the hands quickly caused the project to take a different direction. When I began, I had no great expertise or particular interest in birds, and certainly not in the traditional practice of bird watching with binoculars, but observing birds from so close and intimate a vantage point (I say that I photographed the birds at the same distance that one reads a book) is a wonderful way to learn about them...

How do you perceive the relationship between bird and handler?
It is similar to the relation between a sculpture and pedestal.

Link (via Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society)