In Luke Stephenson’s Bold Portraits of Show Birds, the Personality Is in the Plumage

From charming robins and spritely blackbirds to a canary with a suave, natural bowl cut, Luke Stephenson’s portraits capture the fine feathers and downy details of exquisite show birds (previously). Using a customized, portable box with a perch inside, the artist captures each species’ distinctive personality and plumage in front of a variety of colored backgrounds.

For more than a decade, Stephenson traveled across the U.K. and the Netherlands to make the portraits, and over time, he experimented with ways to make the birds more comfortable and achieve the most compelling compositions. “I keep adapting (the boxes) to work better; the latest version allows me to spin the perch with out putting my hand in the box and bothering the birds,” he tells Colossal.

Stephenson recently compiled a second volume of his popular book An Incomplete Dictionary of Show Birds, including all of the images that appeared in the first volume, plus 115 never-before-published portraits. Now based in Stockholm, he is currently working on a project focused on Swedish traditions.

If you’re in California, you can spot a few of Stephenson’s birds in Still Life, a three-person show at Joseph Bellows Gallery in La Jolla, through February 10. Find more on the artist’s website, and follow him on Instagram for updates.

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