The beauty of the robin's egg is not lost on the child who discovers the nest, nor on the collector of nature's marvels. Such instances of wonder find fitting expression in the photographs of Rosamond Purcell, whose work captures the intricacy of nests and the aesthetic perfection of bird eggs.
Mining the ornithological treasures of the "Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology", Purcell produces pictures as lovely and various as the artifacts she photographs. The dusky blue egg of an emu becomes a planet. A woodpecker's nest bears an uncanny resemblance to a wooden shoe. A resourceful rock dove weaves together scrap metal and spent fireworks. A dreamscape of dancing monkeys emerges from the calligraphic markings of a murre egg.
Rosamond Purcell is a world-renowned photographer and the author of a number of books, including Owl's Head and Bookworm. Linnea S. Hall is Executive Director, and Rene Corado is Collections Manager, of the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology in Camarillo, California.
What kind of genius is Rosamond Purcell? Is she an artist? A scholar? A documentarian? A living cabinet of wonders? Her originality defies category, as does her newest triumph, Egg & Nest. Crack its shell. - Jonathan Safran Foer"