Dreams of Birds: How Carol E. Richards Captures Impermanence Through Her Lens
Welcome to this edition of [book spotlight]. Today, we uncover the layers of 'Dreams of Birds,' by Carol E. Richards (published by Nazraeli Press). We'd love to read your comments below about these insights and ideas behind the artist's work.
Every fleeting moment is a story waiting to be told.
Carol E. Richards captures these moments with an eye for impermanence, revealing the beauty in what’s here one moment and gone the next.
Her unique approach, using a viewing scope to photograph birds, highlights not only their presence but also the poignant spaces they leave behind. These diptychs serve as a visual reminder of the transient nature of life—a theme that resonates universally.
What if the spaces left behind tell the real story?
By pairing detailed avian portraits with their empty perches, Richards’ photographs evoke feelings of solitude, longing, and reflection. Her artistic process, shaped by years in commercial photography and fine art, merges technical simplicity with emotional depth. Dreams of Birds isn’t just a collection of images; it’s a meditation on impermanence, one that promises to leave you seeing the world—and yourself—with fresh eyes.
The Book
Dreams of Birds (Nazraeli, Amazon) is an exploration of impermanence, captured through the lens of fine art photographer Carol E. Richards. Using a viewing scope to create intimate yet distant portraits of avian subjects, Richards masterfully captures the fleeting presence of birds as well as the poignant spaces they leave behind. Presented as diptychs, the images evoke themes of solitude, absence, and the passage of time, inviting viewers to reflect on the ephemeral nature of life.
This first-edition volume is limited to 750 copies and features 47 meticulously printed photographs on matte art paper, bound in elegant cloth over boards. Following the success of her earlier book, Birds Have Wings (2013), Richards expands her exploration of the natural world, blending technical simplicity with profound emotional depth.
Exploring Ephemerality: Your work in “Dreams of Birds” beautifully captures the fleeting nature of avian life. How does the concept of impermanence influence your approach to photography, and what do you hope viewers take away from this theme?
The concept of impermanence may very well be the thing that drives me to take too many photos! That is, that urge to document whatever, whomever it is. I assume that is a part of every photographer’s impulse. With the Dreams of Birds series, I felt that an everyday, ordinary occurrence, the peripatetic nature of birds, serves as a reminder in real time of the ubiquitous passage of time that is the experience of all transient beings. Sometimes it can come as quite a shock - that realization that all things come to an end; a song, a flight, a life. We all know we are going to cease to exist someday, and yet, there is a part of that acknowledgment which is rather shocking - how can this be?
Technical Choices: Using a viewing scope to capture your bird subjects creates a unique visual effect. Can you discuss the technical challenges and advantages of this method? How does it contribute to the overall aesthetic and emotional impact of your images?
Photo gear, technical expertise, the latest gadget have never held my interest. What drew me to make photos to begin with was the sheer pleasure of the final image looking just as I remembered it, and the possibility that I saw something in an image that others might see as well. I think I have learned what I require to get the job done. My very first job as an assistant in Los Angeles was with a photographer who had minimal technical skill, but knew how to get great portraits. As a girl I had very little knowledge of modern and contemporary art. When I saw the work of a contemporary New York abstract painter for the first time and liked it, recognized it, I was blown away. I had never seen anything like it before and I found it beautiful and compelling and wondrous. One of the things I most like about my very non-technical set-up of camera against scope, is that there is a fair amount out of my control and dependent on the location, lighting, time of day, whimsies of an animal with wings. I have to work with what I’ve got, I don’t create the environment, I insert myself into it, albeit in a voyeuristic way. I miss some images this way, but that’s part of the challenge for me. And part of the joy. It’s not all in my hands.
Diptych Presentation: The diptychs in “Dreams of Birds” juxtapose the birds with the spaces they leave behind. How do you choose the pairings, and what narrative or emotional connections are you aiming to create between the two images?
For the most part the pairings are chosen because I would make a photograph of a bird and it would fly off and that “empty” space looked so poignant and with a weight that I thought it could stand alone. That depth of field and that softness creates a mystery - what is outside the circle? What is beyond it, out of focus? Once I considered the idea of the pairings and viewed them side by side I saw that there was indeed something emotional there. I would love it if viewers feel like they are there and took the photos themselves. The potential narrative is that the diptychs serve as a reminder of impermanence in a very tangible way; branch with bird, empty branch. But what I would really hope for is that the viewer feels something from the pairings, and that is entirely up to the individual.
Isolation and Connection: You mention that your photographs suggest isolation, solitude, and longing. How do these themes resonate with your personal experiences and artistic vision? In what ways do you believe they are universally relatable?
A good deal of solitude is something that I absolutely need and enjoy. However, I think my childhood had a bit more than might have been healthy and there is a dark and lonely place in me that I’m assuming came from that time. Too much isolation can be a heavy, sad thing, and I think I am drawn to art that reveals that sadness and I believe I am drawn to make art that speaks to that.
Transition from Commercial to Fine Art Photography: Having worked in commercial photography and television production for many years, how has that experience influenced your fine art practice? What are the key differences in your creative process when working on personal projects like “Dreams of Birds”?
Having a background in commercial photography enabled me to see extremely varied photographers in their space and how they managed their time, their physical work space, their staff. I’m grateful for all those jobs because I saw that with enough knowledge you can move forward and create without having a big, fully-equipped studio. You have to just start. Just shoot. I was fortunate because I lived alone so the dining table being covered in darkroom prints did not inconvenience anyone. I also was fortunate to have a friend give me full access to his darkroom for years. People show up and help when you’re ready to accept it. That was grand. One very talented photographer I worked for was Scott Morgan who continues to make amazing work today. I learned a lot from him including the importance of simply looking, not just at photo books and photography galleries but all visual arts, and design. Look. See how the spaces around you, and the negative spaces (negative as a visual term, not emotional) impact your senses.
My experience of this being a personal project meant I dragged it on a bit! I basically took summers off to garden and was doing so much traveling with my husband then so I set it aside a few times. As it turned out, it came together beautifully with Chris Pichler at Nazraeli Press inviting me to publish with him which was always my first choice. So, had I been more disciplined I would have gone with another publisher or self-published which would not be ideal. Nazraeli is ideal.
Impact of Environment: How do the different environments where you live—Los Angeles, Taos, and the Oregon coast—influence your work? Do you find that these varied landscapes offer different opportunities or challenges for your photography?
Having the good fortune to be able to stay for a length of time in three very different environments gave me a little jolt of energy, I would say. Just like when you go somewhere brand new and that first look is enthralling. Even though I was revisiting places I had already been - it always felt like a fresh bit of inspiration would come in. Even when I went to Kansas City, Kansas! Not to malign that city, but I was not in the best of circumstances and was there for a few weeks but I had my scope and it was winter and there were cardinals! Cardinals made the whole trip worthwhile.
Artistic Evolution: Your previous book, “Birds Have Wings,” was published in 2013. How has your approach to photographing birds evolved since then? What new insights or techniques have you developed that are showcased in “Dreams of Birds”?
Not much has changed in my approach since having been included in Nazraeli ’s One Picture Book series in 2013. I became a little more comfortable with the scopes (three different scopes each slightly different than the other) and continued to explore more “empty” space images. My photoshop skills improved so I think the final prints are stronger.
Capturing Absence: In documenting the spaces left behind by birds, you prompt viewers to consider how absence affects us. Can you elaborate on how you visually interpret and convey absence in your photographs? How do you see this theme relating to broader human experiences?
I’ve never considered how absence affects us, but I think absence gets one pondering; is something coming? what just happened? I am drawn to mystery, obfuscation. My current series is not shot through a scope but taken through my greenhouse glass. I like images that feel otherworldly, evocative. A quote by Diane Arbus which frequently comes to mind is, “Nothing is ever the same as they said it was. It's what I've never seen before that I recognize.” That has always resonated with me and I think, perhaps has compelled me to keep shooting.
I have always loved the toy camera - again the lack of technical control but also the final image can have such gravitas and it was achieved so simply. I love that. Also those mysterious, ephemeral, dark corners hinting at something - could be sinister could be ordinary could be cheery - we don’t know, but those mysterious edges might make the viewer project a scenario onto the image or think of something from their past.
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