Bird On A Wire
Urban walks alone with a camera, music playing loud, the world drowned out. Look along. Look down. Look up. Stop. Hold your breath. Frame. Take the shot. Keep walking.
Bird On A Wire is one of many images Adam has taken in this way, the image was taken on a walk through the semi-industrial area of St Peters in Sydney. The area is a perfect blend of rundown low rise industrial and residential rows of Federation Terraces.
There’s rust, there’s dust and industrial shapes. Interesting windows and shadows. In rows above it all are power lines. Seen in every area of the planet where man exists these lines are as common as breath. Yet for Adam they are a source of inspiration.
They carry our voices and thoughts and the power we need to fuel our homes and workplaces. These wires are inherently dangerous yet seemingly harmless because they are everywhere. They paint lines in the sky for Adam and their use can be seen right throughout his work from his early days shooting in the 1990s right up to today.
The combination of something from the natural world (a bird) with this razor sharp human device (the wire) is fundamental to Adam’s work. Bird On A Wire shows softness and delicateness sitting with harshness and power. The tiny, fluffy bird nonchalantly rests on the wire unaware of the thousands of volts that course through the platform on which it grips.
The stark blue and unblemished winter’s sky provides the ultimate backdrop for two perfectly straight lines and the flash of colour of the bird’s breast. The position of the bird’s head is stunning in profile, directing us to look towards the centre of the image providing even more balance to the image.
