Bugs & bones

May 12, 2017 by jenwesterman 2 Comments

I take a lot of photos of disturbing subjects, but I do not mean to horrify.  I would like to unhinge my viewers just a bit, but mostly I hope my pictures convey respect and delight.  I love skulls and vertebrae, spiders and caterpillars–the same way people dig the blues or cherish paintings by Van Gogh. 

I do not photograph animals that have clearly been run over, or bugs that have been squashed.

I do sometimes photograph the remains of animals that were killed by other wildlife, their bones picked clean by the local vultures.  I also have taken photographs of animals I have discovered in their natural setting, partially decomposed.  I do not post all of these images.  They are beautiful in their way, and fascinating, but I struggle to discern how best to present them with a sense of honor, not horror.