Artist-photographer-writer Claire Rosen—who’s cultivated a long, lauded career, with much of her work reflecting a longstanding passion for animals, and celebrated for its sense of whimsy—traces the shaping of this sensibility back to her childhood, reading Beatrix Potter, regularly visiting the American Museum of Natural History, and going to the zoo and the circus whenever possible. 
Not that Rosen’s home was an animal-free zone in her formative years. Hardly. She recalls a
house full of critters—dogs, cats, ferrets, parakeets—and feeling a profound connection. She loved animals then, and she loves animals now. And that lifelong love has been expressed in her work, while seemingly mindful to not take herself, or the animals she depicts, too seriously. Indeed, Rosen and I spent a chunk of time discussing whimsy—how she feels about whimsical work, the role whimsy plays in her creations, to what extent whimsy can facilitate communication between artist and viewer, and so on. This led, quite naturally, to chewing over “Fantastical Feasts,” Rosen’s serries involving whimsical (there’s that word again!) panoramic photos portraying a large group of particular animals—for example, just cheetahs, or just elephants, or cobras, or bullfrogs, or hyenas—gathered around long, enormous tables brimming with food. Soon, we excused ourselves from those tables, fluttering on to “Birds of a Feather,” her just published photobook, an 
elegant, extraordinary collection offering 120 portraits of birds, presented against an array of
vintage pieces of wallpaper as backdrops. Rounded out by essays written by Rosen–plus notable contributors Femke Speelberg, Curator of Historic Ornament, Design and Architecture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and Joel Sartore, a renowned National Geographic photographer and creator of the Photo Ark, billed as “the world’s largest collection of animal studio portraits”–“Birds of a Feather” could sound at first like a coffee table book. But, as I observed in this conversation, it has much grander ambitions, and much grander virtues. We discuss the “Birds” extended
gestation period, and the multiple phases during which she generated particular types of bird photos. Notably, while recounting the early history of the project—photographing parakeets and other pet birds in a makeshift studio at the local pet store—Rosen explains that while mostly receiving acclaim for these images, she drew some harsh criticism from animal rights activists for using feathered friends from the pet industry. This was enormously upsetting to her, she says, but upon serious contemplation, profoundly transformative in her perspective on captive animals and pets—and how she approached photographing critters in the future. It was around this time when she described how she landed on the idea of using vintage wallpaper as the backdrops for this aviary art, and gathered the many pieces of wallpaper to do so. Finally, Rosen responded to my closing couple of questions, including “Who is this book for?”—asking how she would characterize her perceived audiences for “Birds of a Feather”…and, given this sprawling, singular tome, how would she characterize the book itself? (https://claire-rosen.com/) [Photos by Claire Rosen]
ALSO: I spoke with Jess Yingst, of Rescue Me Tampa, who first filled us in on the organization’s full name (Rescue Me Tampa – Shelter Dogs), en route to describing their mission—facilitating adoptions of the 400 dogs and cats she said are currently housed at the Pet Resource Center, 440 Falkenburg Road, Tampa—and their membership: animal lovers with full-time jobs and families, who make the time to find homes for these shelter animals. Toward that end, they organize events aimed at spurring adoptions, with a case in point being their multifaceted Pawliday, set for Dec. 13, noon-5pm, at the Pet Resource Center. Jess outlines some of the many events and activities slated for this Pawliday–an adoption extravaganza, really–ranging from The Pitty Parade (with the 12 Pits of Christmas), to several local animal rescues, amidst other organizations, occupying booths on the premises. And of course, there will be photos with Santa…and more. (https://www.facebook.com/rescuemetampa/)
COMEDY CORNER: Matt Braunger’s “Owls” (DS edit) (https://www.mattbraunger.com/)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme”
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Eels’ “I Like Birds”
AUDIO ARCHIVE:
Listen Online Now:
