CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 4/16/2015

Luke Stephenson: An Incomplete Dictionary of Show Birds

"Pekin Robin (Leiothrix lutea)" is reproduced from An Incomplete Dictionary of Show Birds, British photographer Luke Stephenson's captivating book of purebred bird portraiture. The ideal gift for lovers of cuteness, it is also a serious photographic study and a record of the artist's evolving passion. Essayist Mike Smith writes, "Luke gradually became more and more knowledgeable, more and more completest, more and more a collector of sorts, in his case through photographing the animals. He started to subscribe to Cage and Aviary Magazine. Ticking ever more exotic breeds off his list became an end in itself. The Pekin Robin, with its yellow, purple flecked breast, was a specimen he particularly wanted to capture. One day he went to photograph a robin that belonged to a man named Ken but realized he’d forgotten the right lighting equipment. Upon his return the following week – 'I’ve got some bad news, lad. The Pekin Robin’s dead.' No amount of Red and Yellow Bishops, and a whole host of rarer birds, could relieve the feeling of disappointment in the months that followed – two years passed by before he finally managed to track down another Pekin Robin. A very different position to the vague and naive intention to start photographing 'canaries, budgies and parrots' that initially started the whole project off. Like many explorers of a strange and intriguing culture, he’s ended up going native."