Press Releases 2004

"Unnatural History," a series of photographs by Diane Fox, will be shown in the Dom Muz Gallery in Torun beginning September 3.

"Unnatural History” explores the ways we objectify nature through imagery taken in natural history museums in the U.S. and abroad. The exhibit visits natural history museums for a glimpse of the natural world, a world we often do not experience first-hand. Animals are viewed at a safe distance from far off places and times. Dioramas (and photographs) create a framed moment of nature frozen in time. The more closely they resemble an actual space and event, the more closely the taxidermied animals appear to breathe life, the deeper the sense of wonder and connection.

"It is this dichotomy between the real and the unreal, the version of life portrayed and the actuality of death, the inherent beauty of the animals and the setting created and the understanding of its invention that find me both attracted and repelled," says Fox.

Diane Fox teaches graphic design and photography for the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.