The Ortlip Gallery celebrates Ian Campbell’s photography exhibition, After Birds, with an opening reception Friday, October 25th, at 6:30-8:00 pm in the Center for the Arts at Houghton University. Open to the public, the event includes refreshments, live music, and an artist talk at 7pm.

Ian Campbell is an artist and photographer based in Western New York State. He holds an MFA in Photography & Integrated Media from Ohio University and a BA from Wheaton College, Illinois. Ian has shown his work in galleries, film festivals, publications, and conferences throughout the U.S. From 2016-2021, Ian served as Assistant Professor of Art at Lyon College, where he taught a wide range of courses in photography, digital art, drawing, and art history. In 2022, Ian relocated to Houghton, NY, where he maintains an active studio art practice as well as being a stay-at-home Dad and freelance commercial photographer.

After Birds is an interdisciplinary endeavor drawing on themes from conservation biology but expressed through the medium of art. The exhibit is a series of infrared photographs of the habitats of extinct, endangered or disappearing species of American birds that Campbell travelled to and explored. Venturing from Rhode Island to Arkansas and Maine to Texas, Campbell drew inspiration from John James Audubon’s famous book, Birds of America. Accompanying each of Campbell’s striking photographs is an illustration by Audubon. Campbell explains, “My images are a response to John James Audubon’s landmark suite of bird paintings. Each of my photos is inspired by and builds upon an Audubon illustration, borrowing details of composition and design to create a dialog between past, present, and future. Yet the birds themselves are conspicuously absent from my photographs.”

Campbell’s exhibit in the Ortlip Gallery is a portal into what feels like a different dimension—serene and stark; peaceful, yet thought-provoking, familiar but somehow foreign in its dearth of avian life. The tranquil dark blue walls of the gallery bedecked in juxtaposed modern black-and-white photography and early 19th century detailed paintings, prompt contemplation of how human choices can harm other species. According to Campbell’s artist statement, a recent study published in the journal Science found that the North American bird population has dropped by 3 billion birds, or 29%, since the 1970’s. He attributes this to complex interconnected issues including habitat loss, pollution, poaching, invasive species, climate change, and other factors. Originally planning to document only the habitats of endangered birds, Campbell expanded the project to include common species in steep decline after reading Matt William’s book “Endangered and Disappearing Birds of the Midwest.”

Campbell’s hope is that, “After Birds will inspire viewers to seek their own connections with the natural world. This project is a meditation on loss, but it is also an invitation to learn from past failures, take note of conservation success stories, and make every effort to preserve our birds and their habitats.”

After Birds will be on display in the Ortlip Gallery through December 13, 2024. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 9am-6pm.