bird banding collage
As part of the 2025 Narwhal Photojournalism Fellowship, I wrote and photographed a feature on the conservation practice of bird banding in Ontario. For months I road-tripped to bird banding stations in the south of the province, documenting the scientists and volunteers that devote their time to capturing, banding, and recording data during bird migration seasons in the fall and spring.
Read the story I found the shapes of the birds to be compelling: Instead of the natural positions you may observe through a pair of binoculars, bird banding allows people and birds to get very close. Hands and birds are the visual foundations of this story, and I created some collage art to emphasize those elements.
The banders I met are super knowledgeable about bird species and migration, and many have devoted years of their life to banding. People travel from all over the world to participate in bird banding seasons, and the birds that are recorded travel across borders too. It was a pleasure getting to observe bird banding and an honour to share in the expertise of the people who keep this practice going.