Waiting for the dragonfly
Switzerland · 2023
From 195 €
Limited edition of twenty prints, all sizes and materials combined. Each print is signed, numbered and delivered with a certificate of authenticity.
Choose your print
My advice for this photo
- Material
- Fine art paper · matt cotton
- Framing
- Classic frame · Grey · up to Large
A wagtail on a mossy rock and the blue streak of a blurred dragonfly: matt cotton paper renders this blur very softly.
- Made to order: usually two to three weeks in mainland France and Europe
- Signed-for Colissimo delivery or, depending on the country, a pickup point; courier for Large and Extra large sizes and some framed prints
- Fourteen days to change your mind
- Card, SEPA Direct Debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link or PayPal
Another size or material? Ask for a quote →
The story behind the photo
A wagtail on a mossy rock in Switzerland, standing very upright, and behind it, out of focus, the blue trace of a dragonfly. The title names the situation rather than the bird, because the whole photograph is about something that is about to happen and does not happen in the frame.
The composition is built on that tension. The wagtail occupies the left of the picture, sharp, black and white, entirely still. The dragonfly floats to the right, blurred, blue, the only other colour allowed in. Between them there is a diagonal of empty green, and the eye keeps travelling back and forth across it, looking for a resolution that the image refuses to provide.
I kept the bird small in the frame and resisted cropping tighter. A closer portrait would have removed the dragonfly, and with it the entire narrative. Depth of field does the storytelling here: what is sharp is the hunter, what is soft is the prey, and the distance between the two is measured in fractions of a second.
Wagtails hunt on foot, with that nervous, tail-flicking run along the water’s edge, and on the wing. Watching one at work is watching pure calculation: an animal that spends its whole day estimating trajectories.
I wanted a photograph of the instant before, the held breath rather than the strike, and a picture in which the most important element is deliberately the least sharp.
- Location
- Switzerland
- Date
- 2023
- Gallery
- Wildlife
Sizes and prices
| Size | Fine art paper | Aluminium Dibond | Acrylic glass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small45 × 30 cm | 195 € | 300 € | 425 € |
| Medium60 × 40 cm | 275 € | 450 € | 640 € |
| Large90 × 60 cm | 440 € | 670 € | 1 010 € |
| Extra large120 × 80 cm | 580 € | 900 € | 1 470 € |
Price of the print alone, without frame, VAT included. Print dimensions in centimetres; a frame makes them larger.
Materials
Hahnemühle fine art papers (Photo Rag, Museum Etching, Fine Art Baryta…), chosen for each photograph.
Print mounted on 3 mm aluminium Dibond: rigid, light, no glazing.
Print set between 3 mm Dibond and an acrylic sheet: richer colour and depth, resistant to UV and humidity.
Framing, optional
For paper prints: white mount and Plexiglas glazing, museum glass optional.
For aluminium and acrylic: the photo seems to float inside its frame; black or white.
For aluminium and acrylic: an aluminium structure fixed to the back, invisible once hung.
Delivery and returns
Signed-for delivery by Colissimo or, depending on the country, to a pickup point; signed-for delivery by courier for Large and Extra large sizes and some framed prints. Usually two to three weeks in mainland France and Europe, thirty to forty-five days for the French overseas territories and other countries.
Read article 9 of the Terms and Conditions →Fourteen days from receipt to change your mind, except for a print made to a special request. Returns are at your expense.
Read article 10 of the Terms and Conditions →Card, SEPA Direct Debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link or PayPal. The print is made once payment has been received.
Read article 8 of the Terms and Conditions →Lead times, delivery, payment, returns: the answers are in the frequently asked questions. For another size, another material or advice on hanging, write to me.
Read the frequently asked questions →Contact me →
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