Aviary Hardcover by William A Ewing

Product Details

• Publisher: Thames and Hudson (2025-10-14)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 272 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780500029084
• Item Weight: 1905.12 grams
• Dimensions: 11.86 x 9.89 x 1.13 cm

Aviary presents a thought-provoking overview of contemporary bird photography, featuring the work of more than fifty internationally recognized photographers in an enthralling odyssey that is both a visual celebration of the wonders of nature and a stark reminder of its fragility.

Aviary presents the work of more than fifty internationally recognized photographers who explore our complex relationship with birds, questioning how we observe them and respond to their presence—and vice versa. Rather than being organized by field of study or species, Aviary surveys the symbiotic relationship between animals and humans through six thematic chapters imagined as "Acts" in a theatrical pageant.

Photographs of birds feature rarely in the early decades of photography: birds were too fast to be captured in flight and could not be depicted in color, limitations that took many years to rectify. Today, however, with superb technical means at their disposal, photographers have taken to the subject with great enthusiasm, inspired by our everincreasing understanding and appreciation of avian complexity. Taking an eclectic curatorial approach, authors Danaé Panchaud and William A. Ewing weave together photography from the diverse fields of art, documentary, fashion, portraiture, ornithology, and wildlife photography into six "Acts" that propose intriguing new dialogues and visual theater between these different modes of photographic expression. Aviary features over two hundred photographs from leading image-makers including Leila Jeffreys, Sarah Moon, Roger Ballen, Vik Muniz, Tim Flach, Viviane Sassen, Robert Clark, and Nadav Kander, among many others.

An essential, visual study of the relationship—beautiful, complex, and occasionally dark—between humans and birds.

About the Author

William A. Ewing has been an author, lecturer, curator of photography, and museum director for more than fifty years. His many publications on photography include The Body: Photographs of the Human Form, Civilization: The Way We Live Now, Edward Burtynsky: Essential Elements, and Flora Photographica: The Flower in Contemporary Photography.

Danaé Panchaud is a curator and lecturer specializing in photography. She is the director of the Centre de la Photographie Genève and coauthor of Flora Photographica: The Flower in Contemporary Photography.