TOKYO-2018 Fine Art / Collage

Animal Lives Redux

  • Prize
    Bronze in Fine Art/Collage
  • Photographer
    Dale Niles
  • Technical Info
    Combining My Digital Images And Layering Them With Textures To Create Formal Animal Portraits
  • Photo Date
    2017-2018

Curious about taxidermic animals and the reasons they are stuffed, mounted, and displayed as trophies and as natural history specimens, I began using photos of both preserved and living animals encountered on my travels, whether seen on a farm or in a museum, shop, or rescue environment. Combining these images with my landscape photographs in a montage process creates formal portraits similar to the style of portraiture championed in Renaissance painting.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Niles’ formative years were spent with her family living in small, southern towns in Virginia and North Carolina. Inspired by the heritage of these locales, neighbors, and friends, she developed deep-seated southern roots that richly inform her photography practice with visual storytelling. Niles celebrates the diverseness of the human spirit, appreciating those qualities that make us delightfully unique, yet connected in many ways, particularly through shared experiences and preserved visual memories.