There is beauty to be found in all creatures, great and small. Even chickens.
Yes, that’s right. You’ve probably not thought about chickens in this way before but they are actually rather breath-taking birds.
Italian photographers Moreno Monti and Matteo Tranchellini think so too – in fact they believe chickens are underrated and began a portrait project called Chic!ken to show the world how stunning this farm bird can be.
See, look (above). You can imagine chickens being used as inspiration on Project Runway for a couture assignment.
Moreno and Matteo have taken more than 200 portraits, some of which you can see on their Instagram page @chicken_ph. The images have proven so stunning they’ve handpicked a selection to feature in a hardback photobook, Chicken: The Book.
The book can be pre-ordered on a Kickstarter campaign page that Moreno and Matteo have set up. You can also buy limited edition fine art prints, hilarious posters, chicken postcards, collectible journals, and “a sexy calendar for adults only.”
It was Matteo who discovered the beauty of chickens first when in 2013, while searching for a Concincina hen for his studio garden in Milan, he met a farmer who invited him to an aviary exhibition. It was at the exhibition that he found the perfect Concincina hen for him – he named her Jessicah – but was also inspired by the beauty of the other fowls (unfortunate word) before him. He felt compelled to capture their beauty on camera.
Teaming up with Moreno, the pair began shooting (not literally) hens and roosters at bird shows.
“We felt like chickens had been waiting for their moment in the spotlight,” they explain on their Kickstarter campaign.
For concerned animal lovers, the photographers reassure: “None of these beauties were harmed, forced, or leashed.”
They told My Modern Met chickens make excellent models:
“They were just themselves and had a natural ability to move in front of the camera.”
Well, we’ll be feathered.
