Wondrous / Strange: Photographs by Sharon Beals

Sharon Beals, Tree Swallow nest and eggs in the collection of the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, photograph, 2012.

San Francisco photographer Sharon Beals combines a keen aesthetic eye with a devotion to preserving the natural world. She says, “Photography is a way to chronicle what moves my heart and concerns my conscience, from  habitat  restoration, plastic in the ocean, to the ecology of rivers, and of course, birds’ nests.”

Wondrous/Strange presents her stunning photographs from two distinctly different subject areas: bird nests, in their astounding variety, and deceptively beautiful still-life assemblages made from plastic beach detritus.

About the Artist

Beals is the author of Fifty Nests and the Birds that Built Them (Chronicle Books, 2011). She has exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery; the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC; and the University of California, Berkeley, among other venues. Her work is in many private and public collections, including the Kaiser Foundation, the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, the California Academy of Sciences, the United States Department of State (Latvian Embassy) and the Museum of American Bird Art.

The exhibition will run through May 10, 2015 and is open to the public Tuesday–Sunday from 1 to 5 pm.