That is just gross.

i dig, i dig.

Gross? I don't understand the gross comment.

I believe Amy's work uses both taxidermied animals and living animals. If you are in San Francisco she has a solo show opening at Koch Gallery this Thursday. I wish I lived in SF.

I love Amy's work. It seems haunting yet funny. She is one of my favorite NY photo artists.

robertcraig: What is gross?

On first glance, I was hoping that that kid had enough sense to run into the house and not to dive into the pool.

Oh, how everyone loves Amy Stein. Asides from being a spectacular photographer, she is also a great teacher!

I believe the "gross" was a reference to taxidermy. I tend to agree, but think the photos are great :).

i'm with you, robertcraig. it's creepy and sad.

love it....great stuff

I LOVE her work. I have two of her photos (including the one with the bear at the swimming pool) and they're my favorite things in my home.

She has a book coming out later this summer. I think it will be a collector's item.

Not my cup of tea; esp. the albino deer, which looks like it was either a doe or small spring buck-not much food value, and likely shot as a novelty.
One other thing, I have to, have to, say; I am instantly repulsed from something when it is declared "a collector's item"; does that instantly mean that a) I have to like it, and b) that I'm not a cool kid if I don't like it? It also makes me think of the cabbage patch dolls my crazy father has stashed away b/c they are a "collector's item"

Rndrc, please check out the artist's statement for a better understanding behind her photography....which is NOT the same as cabbage patch dolls (are you freakin serious?) for Pete's sake:

My photographs serve as modern dioramas of our new natural history. Within these scenes I explore our paradoxical relationship with the "wild" and how our conflicting impulses continue to evolve and alter the behavior of both humans and animals. We at once seek connection with the mystery and freedom of the natural world, yet we continually strive to tame the wild around us and compulsively control the wild within our own nature. Within my work I examine the primal issues of comfort and fear, dependence and determination, submission and dominance that play out in the physical and psychological encounters between man and the natural world. Increasingly, these encounters take place within the artificial ecotones we have constructed that act as both passage and barrier between domestic space and the wild.

The photographs in this series are constructed based on real stories from local newspapers and oral histories of intentional and random interactions between humans and animals. The narratives are set in and around Matamoras, a small town in Northeast Pennsylvania that borders a state forest.

Little Flower;

1) I NEVER referred to the artist's work r/t cabbage patch dolls, if you bothered to read what I said before becoming so apoplexic and grabbing your keyboard, you would see that I was making the comment about what I feel and think of whenever anyone uses the term "collector's item." I think that it is a belittling comment for artwork, as it ignores the art and focuses on future resale value. (and before you grab your keyboard again, that is my opinion-a general statement, not a definition)

Art is meant to be something that gives something to you, something that feeds you soul, or you just simply just like; you don't have to read an essay for a "better understanding"-that's the beauty of it.

And, finally, regardless of whatever an artist endeavours to bring or illustrate with their art, I am completely entitled to either like or not; it may surprise you since you seem to think by your above diatribe that I am not "getting it", that I can "get" something, understand it's purpose and it's meaning,even appreciate it as art or an artistic expression, but still not like it; that does not make me narrow, simple or negative.

And if the phrase "collector's item" makes me think of my crazy father and his dusty cabbage patch dolls-that's my business; it's my weird word association.

WOW - Rndrc, when did i ever use the words "narrow, simple, or negative" to describe you???? Are you always in the habit of putting people's words in people's mouths or in this case pulling words from people's keyboards for them?
If you didn't want any comments made on your comments - especially the cabbage patch dolls reference - then you should not bother to post your thoughts on such a public forum. Anyway, thanks for the clarification on your previous comment and I apologize for apparently offending you. Peace out.

While I agree to a degree about self-proclaimed "collectors' items", I think all that Lisa probably meant was:
"She has a book coming out later this summer. I think it will be in high-demand with photography book collectors."

As contradictory as it seems and probably is, I usually lean towards a dislike of taxidermied animals, but I do like things like antlers, mounted insects and shark jaws (all of which I have in my loft).

That said, photographing taxidermied animals reminds me of the artist who was doing it before Amy Stein, and that's Simen Johan.
His site photos don't do justice to his massively-scaled pieces which, when seen up close, are absolutely compelling.

http://www.simenjohan.com/x/2004_2006/index.htm

Carefully scripted photographs with dead animals that never move. Oh. That takes talent.

Maybe folks could get out and see real wildlife:
http://www.lochvisions.co.uk/wildlife_photography_follow_experience.htm

Do a little hiking:
http://www.frankstark.com/

Or just walk out the front door:
http://www.davidosbornphotography.co.uk/page22.htm

I'm out interacting with nature every day. These are all over the place:
http://www.naturephotography.dk/damselflies.html

...

Much like that video clip of the man that was hit in the street by a car and no one helped...

There's something wrong with us...

and our connection to nature...

if we are relying on coffee table collectible books of stuffed dead animals.

i just like how it degenerated to dusty cabbage patch doll collections - heeeee!

TRUE BLUE, I actually think the artist's statement really speaks to what you are saying and takes it a step farther. It seems to me that these photographs are not about wild nature at all and aren't supposed to be, but are more focused on investigating or exposing the often arms-length and uneasy relationship people in North America have with nature, which includes artificial and tamed spaces.

Rndrc-
Photography books, because they're so expensive to produce, don't typically have large print runs. And when they're sold out, they're sold out. That's it. All gone. It's not like a John Grisham novel that can go back to the printers again and again. Anyone who misses out on a new photography book and wants it later has to pay a premium to get someone else to part with it. Some books that are only a few years old already sell for hundreds of dollars, simply because supply doesn't meet demand. Check out Alec Soth's "Sleeping by the Mississippi" on eBay if you don't believe me.

What I mean by saying the Domesticated book will be a collector's item is that a) it is being produced in limited numbers (via a photography contest rather than a commercial publisher, and b) the demand will be very high among photography enthusiasts. So the take-home message is NOT "this is what the cool kids like." The take-home message is: If you like this work, buy the book when it first comes out. Don't wait.

robotropolis,
Re: your comment: "TRUE BLUE, I actually think the artist's statement really speaks to what you are saying and takes it a step farther. It seems to me that these photographs are not about wild nature at all and aren't supposed to be, but are more focused on investigating or exposing the often arms-length and uneasy relationship people in North America have with nature, which includes artificial and tamed spaces."

Your statement is right on! I was thinking the same exact thing!

art sparks controversy and makes people think. mission accomplished.

Huh!

Robotropolis!

Point taken, and agreed!

I didn't think about it that way, and I thank you for opening my eyes to a new perspective.

It reminds me of how uneasy OTHER people are around wildlife. Like the burly security guy I was talking to one day, he on one side of a chain link fence and me on the other. I mentioned that there were foxes in the area. He stepped back from the fence. He asked if they attack.

I'm like half his size in weight and on the fox side of the fence.

Foxes are tiny. The closest one came to me was a couple feet. But that was because I was down wind.

No, Brutus, they don't attack and would rather not interact with people. They want what all of us want: Food, water, shelter and a good place to live their lives and to raise a family.

People encroach on animals and then wonder why the animals are around. Or bugs. Or reptiles. Or rodents. Hello?

I just get distressed when I see some things, here's one reason why:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96179754@N00/2573779050/

No, that is not stuffed.

Taxidermy is personal and subjective. I happen to like it in certain instances and in others, I do not.

Dead animals can rot or turn into "flesh and fur statues". Taxidermy is most likely going to be tacky, but it can be made a little bit more important or relevant if used in art. Our point of view, and usage of determines if it's beautiful or cruel, like every matter in life nothing is ever "just black & white".