This was published 3 years ago

'It's a bird. It's a…' The mindblowing shapes seen in European skies

As the sun sets in Europe’s autumn, winter and spring, starlings gather in the skies – sometimes in their hundreds of thousands – just before settling in for the night. Moving as “one unified organism”, as Danish photographer Søren Solkær puts it, it can be a freakily fabulous show, “and now and then, with the added drama of attacking birds of prey, the flock will unfold a breathtaking and veritable ballet of life or death”. Solkær has been capturing extraordinary moments from these murmurations – so called for the soft sound of their beating wings and calls – since 2017. His exhibition, Black Sun, is showing at Nanda/Hobbs in Chippendale, until June 11.

May 27, 2022 — 4:35pm