As a native New Yorker, Andrew Garn didn’t pay much mind to the ubiquitous pigeons on the city’s sidewalks. “To me they used to blend into the background,” he says. But as an adult, he became more interested in birding. He noticed that many in the birder community dismissed the creatures as pests. “I thought, What if I could show pigeons in a new, glamorous light?” He began making a series of photos of the common birds. “I was more than amazed at what I captured on the first day,” he says. “Pigeons were more beautiful than I imagined, with iridescent feathers, colorful eyes, and what was most surprising: individual personalities.”
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To make his pigeon portraits, he uses a traveling studio with one to three strobe lights against a black backdrop. Some of his portrait subjects have been pets, but most were residents at the Wild Bird Fund, a wildlife rehab center in New York. Pigeons are surprisingly relaxed subjects, he says, who quickly adapt to the flash, are comfortable with humans, “and are very willing to pose. Some birds even seem to create looks as if walking up and down a runway.” Garn also makes photos of pigeons throughout the city using natural light and a flash when needed.
His new book, “The New York Pigeon” (powerHouse Books), is a collection of his pigeon images; all proceeds from its sales will go toward the Wild Bird Fund, where he is a board member. His greatest satisfaction from the book has been changing people’s minds about pigeons, he says. “I think I succeeded in showing off pigeons’ beauty.”
Amanda Arnold is a senior editor.
