Nearscape Photography: Clay Faces on the Barn
There was a barn just outside of Westminster, Maryland that I used to pass from time to time. Mounted along its side were a series of clay birdhouses, each one shaped like a face.
They were rough and textured, made that way by design. Cracks, pitting, and uneven surfaces gave each one its own character. Two carried hints of leaves or ornamentation, one was more plain. All of them, though, were whimsical and expressive. They seemed made as much for the people walking by as for the birds.
I stopped more than once to look at them. Not to photograph them at first, just to take them in. They stood out, but never felt out of place.
Eventually, I brought a camera.
Even though they were built as birdhouses, I never saw birds using them. The openings were there, but they always felt more like sculptural pieces than anything functional. I often thought about what it would look like if they were in use, birds entering and leaving, a different kind of image altogether.
The property has since been sold, and the birdhouses are no longer there. What remains are these images, and the memory of something unexpected along a familiar stretch of road.
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This photograph is part of my Nearscape Photography series, a project focused on capturing scenes within ten miles of home. Explore more from the series here: Nearscape Photography.
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Technical Notes:
These images were captured with a Canon DSLR and a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens. They were processed in Lightroom and converted to monochrome, with adjustments made for texture and clarity. No vignette was applied. All images are presented in a 3:2 aspect ratio.
