This summer I was working in a kindergarden out back in the fields and forests of Norway. It was nice weather, sun shining, and we were lunching out in the shadow. Suddenly I discovered this poor baby sparrow under the chair of the child I was feeding. It was dead. The death cause was most likely the classic one; flying into a shiny, but very hard window. All the children came curious to see the little creature. We talked about death a little bit. They studied it closely. It was interesting to see something that you usually only see glimpses of, now close-up and so quiet. One of the children asked if he could take it home with him. I said no. Then he asked if he could put the bird on the tractor tray he was palying with. I said no; "you see birds are not to play with, even if it is dead. I will take it home later, and bury it so it can sleep in peace." All theese words with some back intentions, the photographer in me sneeked up. Yes I took it home. Yes I buried it. But the real reason to bring it all the way home: to take pictures of it! The cruel photographer exploiting a poor, dead, defenseless, little bird. Unfortunately the film I used got destroyed. Luckily I took a photo with a Mamiya camera I was lucky to borrow. And who was I to say that dead birds are not to play with.
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Dead birds are not to play with -2011
Camera: Mamiya rb67
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