Hope is the Thing with Feathers

by Editor Lourens Durand
Published the 11th of December 2020

'The sad angel' by Victoria Ivanova

Probably one of the most photographed subjects ever, in one way or another, is the feather.

The first obvious association that comes to mind in this context is bird photography, of which there are infinite examples, from birds in flight to cute pictures of downy chicks in their nests.

'Flamingo mom with her chick' by Xavier Ortega

'Full Speed' by Faisal Alnomas

'The Show Time' by David Hua

'le poussin' by Anna Cseresnjes

When we take this feather association a little further, we may think of wings in general, angels and aeroplanes, or even ethereal flights of fancy that may result in dreamy composites.

'Angel wings' by Motti Hartoov

'believe' by Katie Andelman

'Wings' by Terry F

'Fiery' by Christophe Kiciak

'On the way together' by Kikroune (Christian R.)

'city hoppers' by Adrian Sommeling

Feathers, of course, exist in a range of colours, whether natural or artificial, and are useful adornments in beauty and fashion photography, sometimes even considered as seductive.

'The Swan Queen' by Faldhy Boer

'Nadia' by Peppe Tambè

'Kata' by Gabor Kanovits

'Platform 1940' by Daniel Springgay

In some civilisations and cultures, feathers are important symbolic features in masks and headdresses, bestowing honour on the wearers. Travel photographers thrive on taking their pictures.

'still a warrior' by Pavol Stranak

'Red Feathers' by Norbert Becke

'Warrior of Papua' by Handi Nugraha

n/t by Joxe Inazio Kuesta Garmendia

Less obviously, feathers crop up as ornaments and symbols in still life photography and abstracts, as props in portraits and even as shuttlecocks and arrow flights in sports photography.

'Still life with violin and painting' by Andrey Morozov

'Ad vitam...' by Delphine Devos

'Turquoise veil' by Maïthé Guillaume

'Waiting' by Taman Tan

'Record results' by Dmitry Skvortsov

'Focus' by Larry Deng

Feathers feature in the idioms of many languages, instantly creating images in the mind:
- Birds of a feather flock together
- You could have knocked me over with a feather
- Feathering one’s nest
- A feather in your cap
- Light as a feather
- To ruffle one’s feathers

Emily Dickenson has an interesting line on feathers and hope:
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all”.