Op egg

Scotland-based photographer Sean Dooley was given unprecedented access by a small number of institutions (LIST HERE) to capture some of the rarest specimens in their collections. The result is a show called After Life, on exhibit through March 2nd of next year at the Horniman Museum & Gardens in south London. Dooley shares glimpses of endangered and extinct animal specimens locked in museum storage areas to show the undesired impact of our actions – and our inactions. One of these is the very precious and beautifully speckled egg of the great auk, which died out in the mid-19th c. One of only 75 or so in existence, this one resides in a high-security area behind the scenes at the National Museums Liverpool. His point is made in the photograph (IMAGE ABOVE), which is of course art and not documentation. Dooley comments, “The egg is rarely on display. It never leaves the box and no one is allowed to get too close, let alone touch it. The egg is so precious it’s rarely viewed, so it seemed right to restrict the view of the egg in the photograph as well.”

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