Leah Sobsey works at the intersection of nineteenth-century photographic processes and twenty-first century digital technology. Photographing everything from bird skins to tattered shoes, Leah has unearthed precious details from the dark drawers of national park museum collections across the United States.
Through an interview with Karen Sheard, from British magazine Amateur Photographer Leah explains her inspiration and process that all started. At The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, where she was granted permission to photograph some of the 10,000 bird skins in its collection.
Karen Sheard: The subjects that you photograph are specimens from national park museum collections in America, what made you want to focus on this type of photography in particular?
Through an interview with Karen Sheard, from British magazine Amateur Photographer Leah explains her inspiration and process that all started. At The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, where she was granted permission to photograph some of the 10,000 bird skins in its collection.
Karen Sheard: The subjects that you photograph are specimens from national park museum collections in America, what made you want to focus on this type of photography in particular?
Cardinalis cardinalis, Northern cardinal, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 2007
Leah Sobsey: It was a series of moments over my lifetime that brought me to this project. I can remember when I was about eight years old, I watched my uncle (who was then the curator of birds at The field Museum in Chicago), open the wooden drawers of the collection—floor-to-ceiling drawers, in my childhood memory. And there were birds. Thousands and thousands of birds—vertical, in endless rows. Bird specimens from across the world. It was beautiful and it was jarring. And it left an indelible imprint.
Passerina cyanea, Indigo bunting, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 2007
Bombycilla cedrorum, Cedar waxwing, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 2007
LS: Fast-forward over two and a half decades: A tufted titmouse crashed into my kitchen window. My first instinct was to hold it; my second was to photograph it. It triggered memories from the Field Museum, launching me into the work of Collections.
KS: Your book Collections features specimens from the Grand Canyon National Park. How did you gain access to these collections?
KS: Your book Collections features specimens from the Grand Canyon National Park. How did you gain access to these collections?
LS: The United States has over 50 artist-in-residence programs at different national parks across the country. In May 2008 I was awarded a residency at the Grand Canyon. Residency lodging was in the 100-year-old Verkamp family home that looks out directly over the canyon. I knew I didn’t have anything to add to the canyon landscape photography, so I set out to work in the museum collection where they generously granted me full access.
KS: Can you tell us more about the collections, such as from what areas the specimens were found, by whom, and how old they are?
LS: I was first drawn to the herbarium collection that is over 100 years old. Inspired by Anna Atkins, the nineteenth-century botanist and photographer, I decided to create cyanotypes from my photographs.
KS: Can you tell us more about the collections, such as from what areas the specimens were found, by whom, and how old they are?
LS: I was first drawn to the herbarium collection that is over 100 years old. Inspired by Anna Atkins, the nineteenth-century botanist and photographer, I decided to create cyanotypes from my photographs.
Grand Canyon National Park, Plant specimens, toned cyanotype, 2010
Grand Canyon National Park, Plant specimens, toned cyanotype, 2010
LS: The process: The apartment had no darkroom, so I crawled through the living room window onto the rooftop, where, under the light and heat of the desert sun, I exposed digital negatives on hand-coated watercolor paper in contact frames. Plucked from their context and illuminated by sun and light, the specimens are brought to life once again. The subject matter of each series is dictated by my discoveries, bridging past to present, honoring both the specimens I work with and the medium of photography.
Grand Canyon National Park, Plant specimens, toned cyanotype, 2010
Grand Canyon National Park, Plant specimens, toned cyanotype, 2010
Grand Canyon National Park, Plant specimens, toned cyanotype, 2010
Making of The Grand Canyon National Park, Plant specimens, toned cyanotypes, 2010
“Illuminated by sun and light, the specimens are brought to life once again.”
LS: I don’t always consider myself a documentary photographer because traditionally, context would be provided. Instead, I have stripped the photographs of their context, illuminating them on a stark black background, memorializing them, and creating an ambiguous narrative.
Everglades National Park, Egg specimens, 2012
