The University of Northern Iowa Museums presents the Iowa Up Close photographic contest based on SITES' Earth from Space exhibition, touring until 2012.
WINNER: Best in Show - submitted in Water & Air category, Adult division
Trent Kirkpatrick
For the Birds
Location: Humboldt
Artists' Statement:
This photograph was taken at sunset outside my home in Humboldt, Iowa. It stands out to me as a perfect representation of the “Water & Air” category. Not only does it display both of those elements as separate and independent, it also blurs the line between the two.
Usually the common phrase “it’s for the birds” is used to denote something as unfit or of low value. In this photograph, I feel that the phrase has been proven wrong.
Here the two main focuses of the photo, the birdbath in the foreground and the fiery sky above it and in its reflection, are “for the birds,” but are hardly of sub-standard quality. Even the ragged cement birdbath, shedding layers of paint at will, appears to be absolutely luminous when basked in the dusk light. The composition is framed on the left and right by silhouetted trees and the presence of the water hydrant. Its reflection in the center acts as the ribbon that connects the water to the sky.
We could only hope to be as lucky as the bird that wades into a sunset like this.
