Dead Smart

Rest a Little in the Lap of Life (2005)

Still Life After Death (2006)

Polly Morgan is a taxidermist turned artist. She is known as 'Britains Hottest Bird Stuffer' and can count Kate Moss, Banksy and Stella McCartney as fans. So who exactly is she?

It was Morgans love of animals which intitally attracted her to taxidermy. Frustrated with the taxidermy artworks available on e-bay she took matters into her own hands and learnt how to 'mount' (ie stuff) an animal- a gruesome task to most but to Morgan it's as arbitrary as washing the dishes.

Eventually, she began taking photos of her subjects. Unlike typical taxidermy photographs, Morgan removes her subject from it's natural habitat so as to impress a new perspective on the viewer. Curiously, Morgan makes no attempt to bring her animals to life. They lay dead, completely still or propped up against something. A little macarbre yes but the result is a collection of strikingly beautiful photographs.

See her work at online.