Billy Barraclough

Physical

Murmurations 

Solo Exhibition, Serchia Gallery, Bristol

March 17 - March 20, 2022

Featuring prints from the series alongside a film about the project by Jack Latham

Murmurations, 1st edition, 210 x 280mm, 22pp

Published by Besides Press, 2021

"'Murmurations' by Billy Barraclough is, in its simplest expression, a study of the shape and form of starling murmurations, which he observed daily throughout winter 2020-21. The project is presented alongside newly commissioned poetry by poet Lue Mac. 

Freezing a moment from the murmurations' ever-shifting flow creates something distinct from the experience itself. The images become sculptural; ever-morphing forms are rendered static, and we're able to study the birds' unique creation as it existed for only a split second. The form and flow of the book echoes the natural progression of the starlings as they murmurate: the images start out sparse, with just a few birds gathering, and then reach a crescendo before quieting back down as the starlings go to roost.

The tone is beautifully complemented by a series of poems written by Lue Mac, reflecting on their own experience of watching starlings murmurate at a beach by Little Sea, near their home in rural Dorset, during the same time that Barraclough was making his photographs. The resulting poems touch on themes of separation, reconnection, the moment of touch, and life across seasons."

Standard Edition

Saddle stitch binding
Screen printed soft cover
22 pages with 2 gatefolds and 2 large fold-out sections
210mm x 280mm
First edition of 225

https://besidespress.com/Murmurations-1

Using Format