Telegraph poles with flamboyant personality: the desert landscapes of Dillon Marsh

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Strange, amorphous structures, towering in the middle of a desolate landscape, as if they have descended from the paintings of a surrealist artist. They are the fruits of the tireless labor of the social weavers who live in communes in the middle of the endless desert.

Public weavers (Philetairus socius) are not the name of a secret brotherhood, but a genus of birds from the Weaver family. They build luxury "multi-family" nests in the savannas of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Each cell of such a nest serves as a home for two birds, and the entire structure can accommodate more than a hundred pairs. Many generations, and sometimes even many species of birds, live in these peculiar communes in peace and harmony. In addition to their gigantic size, the nests in the photographs are unusual in their location. Many of these nests, scattered across the uninhabited territories of the Kalahari Desert, are entwined not in trees, but around telegraph poles.

South African photographer Dillon Marsh has collected some of the most impressive pieces in a photo project called Assimilation. “Most of my photographs are organized in series that develop specific themes,” says Marsh. - As a rule, I find objects to shoot by accident when I go about my business. But when something piques my interest, I purposefully drive around in search of a similar scene or use a service for this purpose."

The photographer tries to find objects that are out of the ordinary order of things. He builds the composition of the frame in such a way as to emphasize their individuality, to distinguish them from the environment. Dillon explains.

All photographs of the Assimilation project are permeated with a sense of desolation and sterility. Marsh's imagery is a neat reflection of the landscapes in which he shoots. The photographer examines how man-made objects - the so-called fruits of civilization - interact with the natural world. In his portfolio, he shows the full spectrum of such relationships, from symbiosis to alienation and gradual destruction.

The telegraph poles, traditionally a symbol of progress and development in a rapidly industrializing world, look lonely and abandoned, out of place in this harsh landscape. At the same time, life around them is literally in full swing - thousands of lives of restless birds and, in a broader sense, the life of their friendly community together.

The twigs and dry grass harvested for the construction of bird nests are woven into whimsical structures, giving the inanimate pillars an unexpectedly vibrant personality.

The virtuoso skill with which social weavers build their homes is reminiscent of Oscar Wilde's famous aphorism: "Nature imitates art." However, in Marsh's interpretation, nature is obviously more successful.

It is no secret that since ancient times man has been fascinated by the idea of flight. This is probably why the life of birds very often becomes a source of inspiration for artists and photographers. For example, Sharon Beals also dedicated a series of photographs to bird nests, and artist Chris Maynard creates exquisite fantasy paintings using bird feathers as creative material.