STEPHEN ROBERT THORNTON

Every now and then we are approached by photographers with projects which don't fit our publishing programme but are still a little special. And every now and then we decide to help promote them and make them available on our website. 

This is the case with Stephen Robert Thornton's project 'Packages of Life: Oology Still Life'. I guess that like me you had no idea that Oology is the study or collecting of birds' eggs. In the UK it is illegal to collect or possess wild bird eggs and so Stephen has worked with museums and others to build this remarkable series of images. 

Ten beautifully printed oology prints with contents and cover sheets are presented in a black magnetic clamshell box with a pull-out black ribbon and protective foam inlay. Each box measures 130mm x 100mm

All prints are archival pigment prints printed onto 240gsm etched stock. The cover page and contents pages are printed onto cold-pressed 300gsm art paper. The cover page is embossed with the photographer's seal and hand-numbered. 

These bird's egg prints pit vibrant colours against inky dark backgrounds. The selection of natural surroundings compliments the egg’s beautiful colours, thus amplifying the many hues glowing around them creating habitats that have been transformed into curated still-life sets shifting between nature and imagination

There are presently 3 collections available with collection number 4 being published in the spring of 2025.

Collection 1 includes the following species (prints 1-10):
Ortolan Bunting, Cirl Bunting, Snow Bunting. Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Yellow Bunting, Canada Goose, Raven. Hooded Crow, Magpie, Chough., Rook, Kestrel, Hobby, Merlin, Golden Eagle, Little Gull, Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Avocet, Woodcock, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Ring-Necked Pheasant and English Partridge. 

Collection 2  includes the following species (prints 11-20):
Eurasian Vulture, Common Buzzard, Honey Buzzard, Red Kite, Sparrow Hawk, Osprey, Sandwich Tern, Great Skua, Avocet, Grey Phalarope, Little Ringed Plover, Lapwing or Peewit, Lesser Yellowlegs, Temminck's Stint, Wood Sandpiper, Grey Phalarope, Kilder Plover, Southern Cassowary,  Kenyan Ostrich, Bee Hummingbird, Canada Goose, Common Crane and 13 variations of the Guillemot Eggs.

Collection 3  includes the following species (prints 21-30):
Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Grasshopper Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Skylark, Shore Lark, Icterine Warbler, Twite, Pied Flycatcher, Curlew, Greenshank, Common Snipe, Lapwing, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Whimbrel, Woodcock, Redshank, Ring Ouzel, Eurasian Cuckoo, Lapwing, Timminks Stint, Little Ringed Plover, Killdeer Plover. Guira Cuckoo, Lesser Bird of Paradise, Red Bird of Paradise, Superb Bird of Paradise, Emperor Bird of Paradise. Lesser Black Backed Gull, Great Skua, Little Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Black Guillemot, Gannet, Common Sandpiper, Puffin, Common Guillemot.

Stephen Robert Thornton is an editorial and advertising photographer with studios in London and the East Coast. The East Coast studio is where he likes to base his long-term personal projects such as Fish Town (30 years), Invisible Carbon (2 years)  and this one titled; Packages of Life. He started the Oology Collection in 2023 and intends to finish it over the 2024/5 winter period before he ventures on a new project.