kristen s. wilkins

Killed by dogs: Red Bellied Woodpecker; Lumen print

Backyard Ecology


The backyard ecology movement is an environmental effort to protect existing species by allowing their environment to overlap with your personal environment. With fewer "natural wild" spaces, suburban animals have few options for nesting, foraging, and existing.


Using a variety of media, these pieces are documents of the flora and fauna of my backyard, a convenient site to experiment while connecting with a controlled segment of nature.


This collection includes surveillance video stills of visiting animals; abstract yard landscapes in expired black and white polaroids; long exposed pinhole photographs; time lapse videos of a bird nest; an audio track of summer sounds; and contact lumen prints. Lumen prints are the result of very long exposures, from several hours to several days, with a fluorescent lamp over plant specimens I collect from the yard. Some are leaves after they have been consumed by bugs.

Landscape Perspectives #6, 2018

Suburban wildlife: Skunk

Surveilling suburban wildlife: Skunk 1

The Work Ethic of the House Wren; video, under 2 minutes

Landscape perspectives #1

Suburban wildlife: Ground hog

Surveilling suburban wildlife: Skunk 2

Landscape perspectives #3

Landscape perspectives #2

Suburban wildlife: Opossum

Nature Sounds for Busy People: Midwest Summer Storm; 56 minute audio piece (24 min excerpt)

Suburban wildlife: Cat

Landscape perspectives #4

Suburban wildlife: Rabbit

Landscape perspectives #5

Suburban wildlife: Deer

Suburban wildlife: Squirrels

Yard View 1, over 6 months; Digital positive fromwater damaged silver gelatin negative

Yard View 2, over 6 months; Digital positive from water damaged silver gelatin negative

Yard View 3, over 6 months; Digital positive from silver gelatin negative

Using Format