Des Oiseaux – Leila Jeffreys

To live is to fly
Low and high
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes
Shake the dust off of your wings
And the tears out of your eyes
(Townes Van Zandt, To live is to fly)

With this wonderful and entertaining publication by Leila Jeffreys we immerse ourselves in unexplored jungles and tropical forests, in which we meet and learn about incredible species of colorful birds.
Leila Jeffreys, who was so fascinated that she wanted to portray these exotic species in her studio, explaining her work says, “I’ve long noticed how many birds have specific expressions, just like us.”

Cultivating the art of anticipation and connection with her subjects, the author demonstrates incredible empathy and develops a gallery of whimsical, hyper-realistic portraits in which all the birds, one by one, let their character shine through: graceful, mischievous, shy, proud, vain.

They all chat with the viewer and with each other through the pages, in this game of anthropomorphization that catapults us into their feathered world, in a realm that makes us all share the same language.

This work is part of the Des Oiseaux collection, curated by Xavier-Barral, which celebrates, through the eyes of different artists, the part of the world that is able to fly, at a time when it is probably most endangered.
Ornithologist Guilhem Lesaffre offers a unique essay to accompany each series of photographs.