A different kind of bird-watching:
Jonathan Franzen’s got nothing on Todd R. Forsgren. The lifelong bird-watcher and Washington, D.C.-based photographer has traveled the world over in order to shoot countless species as they’re captured in ornithologists’ mist nets in order to be examined; the resulting images of the tangled up creatures — who, it’s important note, are unharmed by the process — provoke a mixed response in the viewer. On one hand, there’s something off-putting about seeing the birds placed in such a compromising situation. On the other, you begin to notice details that you wouldn’t if Forsgren’s unsuspecting subjects were perched in their natural environment.
As Forsgren explained in an interview:
I feel there is a unique mystery to the birds in this fragile and embarrassing moment, to take a creature that is the epitome of freedom and bind it. In some way, the birds are still "unknown" during this moment, as it is before they are taken out of the nets, measured and weighed. Gathering this information is difficult. It’s a struggle, as intimacy often is. But I wanted to take photographs about the process of getting to know a bird deeply.
Update from a reader:
My hobby is photographing birds in the wild (well, in my backyard), and even though I intellectually understand that the birds are unharmed by the nets, those images are still extremely unpleasant for me to look at. One of the things that appeals to me most about the birds I photograph, in addition to their beauty, is their freedom. Seeing them trapped, even if it's harmless and temporary, wounds me to my very core.
(Puerto Rican Tody (Todus mexicanus), 2009, courtesy of Todd R. Forsgren)
The Dish 