Hyenas, American Museum of Natural History , NYCopyright (c) Traer Scott /All Rights Reserved
Leopards, American Museum of Natural History , NYCopyright (c) Traer Scott /All Rights Reserved
Ostrich 2, American Museum of Natural History , NYCopyright (c) Traer Scott /All Rights Reserved
Hunting Dogs 2, American Museum of Natural History , NYCopyright (c) Traer Scott /All Rights Reserved
When I was nine, my mother would take me to the Natural History Museum in Raleigh (where she was a volunteer curator) all day, everyday in the summers. I spent very long, lonely weeks communing with the museum's animals, both living and dead, as well as operating the manual elevator for employees and rummaging through the collection of ancient periodicals and books housed in a private library. I have since harbored an immense affection for all things old and musty and mysterious, particularly preserved animals whose half dead/half alive presence is both fascinating and unnerving.
Natural History is a series of abstract in-camera constructions of visitors viewing the legendary dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The taxidermied animals in these dioramas were collected (and killed) by "naturalists" primarily at the beginning of the 20th century. Many of these long dead specimens now represent endangered or extinct species. I feel that the unintentional juxtaposition and interaction between the viewers and the animals creates highly allegorical narratives of our troubled co-existence with nature.
Scott won a 2010 Rhode Island State Council for the Arts Photography Grant on the merit of this Natural History series. More American Museum of Natural History Reflections: Gallery
Traer Scott Website
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