26. A picture of a dead pigeon
ROLL 541 | FRAME 11
New York, October 2024.
It is funny how things happen. Mid March, I finalized the edit for a book I will publish this fall with Dashwood Books. This book contains a handful of pigeon photographs, including the one above. I have been taking pictures of these animals, maligned in New York, as they carry less ugly connotations in Mexico. Parallel to this, I published with Matarile Ediciones the work of Carlos Jaramillo, centered around a group of men in Cuba that train and race pigeons. (By happenstance, I am publishing yet another bird book by Sheida Soleimani this summer).
Seems now that pigeons are everywhere. I have been not only thinking a lot about them, but also engaging with pigeon enthusiasts. The algorithm has been serving me videos of how funny and inept pigeons are at making nests, about the pigeon drama in New York City as a pet store captures them illegally to sell for target practice… With my new book, people have also shared with me their experiences with pigeon associations or people who make clothes for pigeons. I can’t escape pigeon lore.
The pigeon is really a tragic figure. Domesticated to serve a utilitarian purpose, the pigeon was abandoned by humans to roam around them and be repudiated by them. I took these pictures before I fully understood the significance of pigeons. I’m now happy my subconscious was attracted to them.
From the contact sheets, a picture of dylan and some pigeons in Brooklyn on the Winter of 2021.
