Back to All Events

The Birds: Opening Reception

  • Shipping+Receiving/Shadow Office 308 15th St Oakland, CA, 94612 United States (map)

"Sometimes an art project sneaks up on you. Barsness had taken up bird watching as a hobby, and eventually couldn't resist photographing what she was seeing. Rather than classic magazine cover shots or "wildlife photography" these are more like portraits of individuals. They have a strange, voyeuristic quality, which makes sense when you consider that bird watching is basically spying on birds that are minding their own business. 

The resulting photographs are of birds in motion, in their own worlds, sometimes partially occluded, the rest of the scene just a blur. This selective focus and movement mimics the experience of watching birds, which never really hold still for you to identify them properly. Some you recognize from their shapes and motions in the corner of your eye. Sometimes you fixate on a detail in your memory and the rest escapes. " Torreya Cummings