Kristin Schnell: Of Cages and Feathers

Kristin Schnell: Of Cages and Feathers by Aline SmithsonNovember 26, 2024

©Kristin Schnell, COVER Of Cages and Feathers

It’s not what I’m primarily interested in in my pictures about the birds. It’s more about the relationship between them and us. And then in the end it’s also about the relationship us humans.

Every so often I come across work that is so original, so exquisite, and so well seen that I become a fan for life. I featured the work of German photographer Kristin Schnell sometime back and was thrilled to discover that she has just released a monograph of her remarkable project, Of Cages and Feathers, published by Kehrer Verlag.

Schnell lives in a remote house in Germany with a large garden, surrounded by nature. She became aware of the dramatic extent of bird decline triggered by industrial agriculture and began to to deal with the problem. She planted her garden intensively and registered that more birds were nesting in their green spaces. She created an aviary, taking in abused animals and began a more intimate connection with the birds by photographing them in the bird cage. Schnell then built a photo studio within the space, integrating mirrors and colorful flowers and other elements and observed the interaction of their birds with the artificial landscapes.

She shares, “The worldwide bird mortality has devastating consequences for nature. It brings entire ecosystems into imbalance, as pollinators, seed dispersers and pest controllers miss. The dwindling number of the latter has the stakes of pesticides and insecticides in agriculture as a result, which poses a great danger to people and the environment represent. Bird decline is one of the many consequences of this Negative spiral. A study from the USA shows that in Europe between 1980 and 2016 around 300 million breeding pairs have disappeared, in the USA as many as three billion birds. A study by the Max Planck Institute also found that that bird song has been proven to cause fears and irrational can reduce thoughts. Significantly, interest in birds and the like increased Feeding birds during the Corona pandemic worldwide significantly.”

Her work is an interplay of colors, shapes, sun, wind as she captures bird movements photographically. For the image titles, Schnell chooses song titles by jazz legend Charlie Parker. The resulting images are colorful and diverse in their form, which also reflect the social structure of birds and in which the photographer draws parallels to the people sees.

©Kristin Schnell, Spread from Of Cages and Feathers

Kristin Schnell (1968) is a German photographer living on the Baltic Sea who creates artificial scenes in which her birds act. In her images, she depicts birds, animals, and their captivity as a symbol of the cage that she—along with humans in general—often locks themselves into. The intention of her work is to highlight the complex and meaningful relationship between humans and animals.

Schnell is an active member of the Künstlerbund Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In the summer of 2022, she had her first solo exhibition at the Photo Triennale Hamburg.

Instagram: @kristinschnell

Instagram: @kehrerverlag

Of Cages and Feathers Texts by Hans Pfeifer Designed by Jana Neff, Juno Hamburg Hardcover 24×32cm 128 pages 71 color illustrations German English ISBN 978-3-96900-180-6

©Kristin Schnell, Spread from Of Cages and Feathers

Of Cages and Feathers: A Photography Series by Kristin Schnell

“Of Cages and Feathers” explores the complex relationship between humans and birds, highlighting the artificial worlds many birds inhabit in captivity and drawing parallels to our own self-imposed confinements.

The inspiration began in Mecklenburg, surrounded by monocultures that offered little habitat for birds. Over time, I took in birds from owners who could no longer care for them, documenting their artificial environments and contrasting them with their yearning for freedom and nature.

The series captures the beauty and diversity of birds within these settings. Colors, shapes, light, and wind create a metaphorical representation of life in captivity, posing questions about freedom and confinement for both birds and humans.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, this parallel became clearer as we found ourselves confined to our homes, leading to increased interest in bird feeding. This shift highlighted our connection to nature and the impact of our actions on the environment.

I build wooden sets in the aviary, paint them, and wait to see if a bird interacts with the set. These images are captured in real-time and are not digitally constructed in Photoshop.

This series is a visual documentation and a call to appreciate nature and the creatures we share our planet with. It urges us to reflect on our relationships with animals and each other, emphasizing the importance of mutual respect and understanding in creating a harmonious coexistence.