Nesting instinct

Rainbow lorikeets partner for life. They live in their thousands in my neighbourhood. Every morning their calls fill the streets as they fly off to feed. Even within larger groups the birds still fly with their partner, evoking old fighter planes flying in formation. Each evening they noisily return home, gathering in large trees. They nestle into each other in a seemingly private and intimate manner. The correlation to human behaviour is remarkable. Like people, the wild birds travel and live in pairs. For several months they have one additional companion, following the breeding season.

The series is a reflection on my personal life and that of my partner; where we are at present and what lies ahead. I’m attempting to correlate the passage of time in an endearing manner, without being overly sentimental. I am also considering our place in society, both on a micro and macro level. I was born in Brisbane but my parents migrated to Australia over forty years ago. I have often felt a sense of dislocation and I feel a similar sensation as I watch and listen to the daily spectacle hundreds of rainbow lorikeets swarming into a few trees, seemingly oblivious to twelve lanes of constant peak-hour traffic bisecting their habitat.

Nesting instinct was photographed at dusk over several months with 800 ISO colour negative film, using a medium format camera from the 1960s with a foldout lens. The combination of old equipment (with its own foibles and quirks), fast film, a relatively slow shutter and panning motion while shooting has resulted in images that are not sharp but still clear.

Across the series of thirteen photographs, glimpses of trees are apparent but most images are have a background of a clear sky at dusk, isolating the birds from the suburban life that shuffles on beneath them.