The Art of Urban Wildlife: How Julie Hrudová Turns City Birds Into Visual Fables
Welcome to this edition of [book spotlight]. Today, we uncover the layers of 'Herons,' by Julie Hrudová (published by Bump Books). We'd love to read your comments below about these insights and ideas behind the artist's work.
Photography can make the familiar feel like fiction.
In Amsterdam, Julie Hrudová has been photographing grey herons for years, not in the wild but in the middle of the city. They steal fish at the market, wait outside people’s homes for snacks, and sometimes even walk inside to watch TV. What started as a quick photo turned into a long-term project about how animals and humans live side by side in unexpected ways.
Julie didn’t plan to focus on birds.
It all began when she saw herons fighting over leftovers at a market. After that, she kept noticing them in unusual situations like on balconies, in parks, and near shops and started taking more photos. She also began hearing new stories from locals and followed them, slowly building a series that mixes documentary and surreal moments. This is a look at how one idea, one city, and one bird turned into something much bigger.
Wildlife photography is rarely this weird, or this intimate.
Herons – A Zine by Julie Hrudová
Julie Hrudová is a Czech-born photographer based in Amsterdam, known for her street and documentary photography. Her zine, Herons, is a 32-page publication featuring 25 images from her long-term project documenting grey herons in Amsterdam’s urban landscape. Edited by David Solomons and published by Bump Books, the zine captures the unique coexistence of these birds with city life. (Website)
Genesis of the Project: What inspired you to focus on grey herons within Amsterdam’s urban landscape, and how did this project evolve over time?
I saw them the first time fighting over leftover fish at the market in Amsterdam and got fascinated by them. Later on I started to photograph the birds in different locations in the city and I learned more about their behaviour in the urban environment. After a while people started sending me stories about herons that I followed up, resulting in a series showing multiple aspects of this co-existence.
What’s the most unexpected or memorable tip someone has passed along?
Heron Kiri who keeps visiting a family home in the South East of Amsterdam, every day, and also enters the home to catch a snack.
Sometimes Kiri watches tv. The birds likes football and cooking programmes. If a tv personality laughs too loud, Kiri tends to fly away.
Observations on Human-Animal Interaction: Through your lens, how do you perceive the relationship between Amsterdam’s residents and the herons? What does this dynamic reveal about urban coexistence?
The humans got used to the herons, and vice versa. The city offers a lot of food for the birds and just like the Dutch people, they are very punctual. They know exactly at what times and where to be for the next snack, and the residents sometimes also feed them. But of course not everyone likes the herons.
Narrative Through Imagery: Your photographs tell compelling stories of herons adapting to city life. What narrative techniques do you employ to convey this integration without relying on text?
This topic offers me an interesting combination of documentary photography and a more surreal, absurdist style I like to practice. Some photographs don’t offer the full story (like the picture of the man surrounded by birds in the park), but together as a series I think it does bring together the story of people and wild animals living together in an urban environment.
Do you intentionally leave space for ambiguity so viewers can bring their own interpretation to the series?
Yes, sometimes. Or I focus on an element that interests me, without picturing the whole scene.
You mentioned being drawn to a more surreal, absurdist style. What, for you, is the key to creating that feeling in an image?
I’m always interested in the absurdity and surrealism of everyday life. It is often the absence of certain facts that makes people wonder and think more about an image.
I also like to play with the notion of photography being a clarifying and trustworthy medium, in contrast to its confusing and manipulative ability.
Advice for Photographers Exploring Urban Wildlife: For photographers interested in documenting wildlife in urban settings, what strategies would you recommend to authentically capture the essence of such interactions?
I don’t really have strategies. Would say, general interest for the topic and to be open to new stories. Depends on the animal, sometimes a lot of patience is needed.
Balancing Aesthetics and Authenticity: How do you navigate the challenge of creating visually engaging images while staying true to the authentic behaviors and environments of the herons?
I don’t know how authentic the behaviours of the herons are. They adapted a different behaviour than in nature, and they are much less scared of people than they would be in general, from what I’ve understood.
For me this crossover is the interesting part. When a heron enters a home of an Amsterdam resident, it shows an adapted behaviour to urban life, but mostly for me it makes for an absurd and surreal picture.
Ethical Considerations in Wildlife Photography: What ethical guidelines do you follow to ensure that your presence and photography do not disrupt the natural behaviors of the herons?
In general I’m trying not to disrupt the behaviour of the heron. But of course, sometimes when I tend to approach the animal with my camera, it can get annoyed and if flies away.
Evolution of the Project: Since its inception around 2014, how has your perspective on the herons and their role in Amsterdam’s urban ecosystem changed?
It did not change really, I just came to know more stories and more locations of the herons in town. Like the zoo where they snatch fish when other animals are being fed,
or herons waiting for food in front of several door steps in Amsterdam. Sometimes a heron colony migrates. There’s also a beautiful documentary called Schoffies, about the life of the herons in Amsterdam.
Interdisciplinary Insights: Have collaborations with experts in urban ecology or ornithology influenced your approach to this project? If so, how have these insights shaped your photographic narrative?
I’m only in touch with the documentary filmmaker Marc van Fucht who created the Schoffies documentary. As he is doing a lot of wildlife filmmaking he knows more about the behaviour of these animals.
It’s definitely insightful to hear about the whereabouts of the herons and their natural vs adapted behaviour. In the end I think it made the photographic narrative broader as I got to photograph multiple
locations, residents and situations thanks to Marc’s advice. And sometimes we registered new scenes together, like the heron Kiri who visits the home of Amsterdam residents every day.
Future Directions: Do you envision expanding this project to include other urban wildlife, or do you see the herons as a unique symbol within Amsterdam that warrants continued focus?
I’ve tried to photograph animals at night in the city, but didn’t have enough patience or discipline to really pursue a series. But who knows I can pick up on it in the future.
To discover more about this intriguing body of work and how you can acquire your own copy, you can find and purchase the book here.
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