ANIMAL KINGDOM

ANIMAL KINGDOM By Jim Naughten

Fund Jim Naughten is funding his book for Animal Kingdom through Kickstarter. Find out how you can get involved at kickstarter.com/jimnaughten

SeeAnimal Kingdom exhibits at the Horniman Museum from 26 September 2015

Horniman Museum and Gardens 100 London Road Forest Hill London SE23 3PQ +44 (0)20 8699 1872 horniman.ac.uk

Buy Michael Hoppen Gallery, London michaelhoppengallery.com

Klompching Gallery, New York klompching.com

Contact +44 (0)7231 227121 jimnaughten.com

Pollitt & Partners9–10 Floral Street London WC2E 9HW +44 (0)20 7379 6709 E: hello@pollittandpartners.com W: pollittandpartners.com T: @pollittpartners

ArbiterDrucken95 Mortimer Street London W1W 7ST +44 (0)20 3664 8807 E: hello@arbiterdrucken.com W: arbiterdrucken.comT: @ArbiterDrucken

Jim NaughtenE: jimnaughten@me.com W: jimnaughten.com

Ashley Hay-CampbellE: ahcportfolio@gmail.com W: ahcportfolio.wordpress.com

Jim NaughtenArbiterDruckenAshley Hay-Campbell

Animal Kingdom Stereographs Foreword from Jim Naughten’s book Animal Kingdom available to purchase through Kickstarter.

Jim Naughten is an artist who understands the transformative effects that photography can have on a subject. In each of his previous projects he has been concerned with reanimating history. His latest images of Victorian and Edwardian zoological specimens continue this overarching visual enquiry but incorporate in addition a fascinating venture into three-dimensional imaging. They are captivating enough even when seen in two dimensions. But once you plunge into the marvel of their stereoscopic depth you are transfixed. Through the act of viewing, an intangible transformation takes place. While the photographs exist in physical form on paper, they also live as an experience, a beautiful illusion held in the mind.

These immaculate stereographs will have practical application from a purely documentary or scientific point of view; yet they also provoke more esoteric responses. Witnessed in three dimensions, the specimens in fluid and articulated skeletons become sculptural. The bellying of a ribcage, the swoop of a tail, or the turn of a head is an expressive form in space. It is tempting to anthropomorphise these animals. Many of the creatures here seem to possess a character that is enhanced or revealed through the photographs, as if they were acting or knowingly sitting for their portraits. The Lar Gibbon and Flap Necked Chameleon look like jokers; the Porcupine Fish is startled; a Young Female Orangutan appears deflated; the Atlantic Cod is angry; and the Leafy Sea Dragon is a real coquette. Examining the tracery of the bones in the Eurasian Curlew’s wings and its rapier-like beak sharpens my senses. Following the arranged arabesques of the Atlantic White Spotted Octopus’s arms, I am reminded of the influence of the natural world that forged Art Nouveau.

Naughten embodies the fertile marriage between nature and art in his Animal Kingdom. He dedicated a year refining the project, solving technical challenges and gathering images during visits to numerous museums. The photographs are individually coherent, but form part of a typology, a comparative study of types. Embracing the aesthetic and working reality of the archive, he shows the patina of time and handling in the fading labels, old typefaces and peeling black backing paint of the specimens in fluid. He also echoes museums’ classification systems, arranging his final edited fifty images into five groups – Marine, Reptile, Mammal, Avian and Primate – reflecting the sequential and chronological evolution of man.

A sense of boyhood fascination is captured in Naughten’s project. He is the nascent scientific collector of weird treasures, creating his own understanding of the world through a process of discovery and systematic gathering. The simple joy of looking is captured here too. Viewing these photographs in stereo forces attention on a single subject, and the act of observation is necessarily solitary: one subject to one viewer at a time. Relative scale of the specimens becomes ambiguous and the experience is akin to being absorbed while looking down a microscope. The impression of time passing, and the world outside, momentarily slips away and an intensified consciousness takes over. A whole universe frozen in time is reanimated and elegantly represented in this book. It is like a secret cabinet of curiosities with its doors unexpectedly wide open.

Martin Barnes Senior Curator of Photographs Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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Pollitt & Jim Naughten

Jim Naughten’s approach to photography is one of exploration and storytelling. He’s spent time in Namibia, documenting the colourful costumes and customs of the Herero tribe, and in a field in Kent, he captured the passion of ‘re-enactors’ who dress up in military uniforms and play out the battles of our past.

Pollitt & Partners has worked with Jim for over ten years on a variety of design and advertising campaigns. He’s always fully involved in the whole project, and ready to help solve any problems that crop up. We are proud to be supporting his latest creation.

Pollitt & Ashley Hay-Campbell

A former BBC broadcast journalist, Ashley has worked as a copywriter for twenty years. She has written for big brands, small start-ups and individuals who need stand-out copy.

Pollitt & Partners has worked with Ashley on many different campaigns; her ability to make sense of complex information is an invaluable skill. Ashley’s copy is insightful and engaging, and her consistency means she’s a pleasure to work with.

Gibbon— Grant Museum of Zoology

Atlantic White Octopus — Oxford Museum of Natural History

Rabbit— Grant Museum of Zoology

Juvenile Chimpanzee— Grant Museum of Zoology

Jim Naughten— Exploring the museums— Testing the stereoscope

Sheep— Bristol Museum

Spider Monkey— Grant Museum of Zoology

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