Chicken in Love – A Book of Photographs by Moreno Monti and Matteo Tranchellini
“Observing hens means exploring the human soul in its inexhaustible gallinaceous aspects”
Italo Calvino
Christmas morning, 2018: Everybody is assembled around the Christmas tree in their pajamas, coffee cups in hand, ready to begin the festivities. There is a large book-shaped package under the tree with my name on it. It is a gift from my wife, Kathy, and when I open it, I find that it is, in fact, a large book – an art book. The book is filled with amazing photographs of beautiful chickens and is so compelling that I consider not opening any other presents so I can just concentrate on paging through the gorgeous photographs in this book.
The book, of course, was “Chick!en,” a book conceived, photographed, and self-published, with the help of a 2017 Kickstarter campaign, by the Italian photographers Moreno Monti and Matteo Tranchellini. (You can find a short review of “Chick!en” that I wrote last year here.) “Chick!en” was well received internationally, and has been shown in galleries around the world. The photographers set such a high bar for themselves with their first book that while I hoped to see new chicken photographs from this team, I wondered how they could top the work that they had already created. Well, good news. A new book is on the verge of publication. And from my sneak peek, I can attest that photographically the new book is every bit as gorgeous as the first book, while thematically it takes a whole new direction.
The new book is “Chicken in Love.” Bound in a heart-red cover is a collection of amazing photographs of beautiful chicken couples. To be clear, the photographs don’t just show two chickens, but represent couples in all their diversity. Regardless of their breeds, ages, sizes, or sexes, these chickens are in love. The photographers hoped to use these beautiful photographs as a metaphor for the diverse expressions of love that can exist in human couples—all that is necessary is two people and love. Nothing else matters.
Moreno Monti and Matteo Tranchellini
As with their first book, Moreno Monti and Matteo Tranchellini have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the production of “Chicken in Love.” You can follow this link to the Kickstarter page if you would like to contribute to the campaign and acquire a copy of this wonderful book at a steeply discounted price. Or if you would like to contribute just because you believe in love. Or chickens!
I’m pleased to be able to share a few of the pictures from the book here, and I’m also happy that Moreno and Matteo agreed to tackle a few questions I posed to them. I’ve interspersed our conversation between the amazing photographs.
Randy’s Chicken Blog: Chickens and people have been hanging out together for a long time. Scientists tell us that chickens were first domesticated 9000 years ago. For most of those 9000 years, people have thought about chickens in terms of eggs and chicken dinners. Recently, though, more and more people have been keeping chickens in their backyards, for their eggs, but also just because they’re fun to watch and to interact with—people have started to think of chickens as pets! With the publication of your amazing photographs in your book ‘Chic!ken’ you seem to be moving on to an even newer way to think about chickens. How do you think about chickens? What is your vision?
Moreno Monti & Matteo Tranchellini: When we first went to a chicken exhibition ten years ago, we were so surprised by how beautiful and various the world of poultry was. We work in Milan as a photographer (Moreno) and a photo retoucher (Matteo), and for years we've been working in the advertising industry creating catchy images, and creative compositions for every kind of product. We wanted to portray chickens for what they naturally are, an infinite world of colors, feathers of every kind, every size, every shape, and every personality. Chickens can stand in front of the camera like real models; they truly feel comfortable in front of it. In our first book we wanted to portray them as beautiful as models, showing all the elegance of their kind, denying the commonplace.
RCB: In your new book, ‘Chicken in Love’ you have all these beautiful pictures of pairs of chickens. You suggest to us in the title of the book that these chickens are couples. While you’ve helped us move to a newer understanding of chickens with your first book, with this book you seem to be moving us to a new way to think about love. Can you say a few words about that?
MM & MT: In our second book we aim to show a very important subject that is also part of everyday human life - that goes beyond beauty. Nature in every way is always surprising. We realized, working with the chickens, and having them in Matteo's garden, how spontaneously different breeds and sexes mix with each other without a second thought. This is a subject that we frequently hear being discussed these days. We wanted to show how animals don’t seem to see an issue at all! They are so romantic! We still have a lot to learn from them.
RCB: There are 8.7 million different species of animals in the world. I know this is true because I just Googled it. So, why chickens? Of all those 8.7 million different animals, what was it about chickens that inspired you to photograph them?
MM & MT: We have fallen in love with chickens! We didn't expect them to be so beautiful! The common idea about chickens (at least, here in Italy) is the typical Leghorn chickens laying eggs on a farm. So, when we went to the chicken exhibition the first time, we discovered a brand-new world that we couldn't imagine being so vast! We all know there are a lot of breeds for every species, but chickens are very underrated.
RCB: How is your hen, Jessica, doing? Given that the focus of ‘Chicken in Love’ is chicken couples, I’m wondering about her. Does she have a special friend?
MM & MT: Jessica is doing pretty well, even if these days she might feel a bit lonely! She used to have two friends!!! Two silky, young and sexy roosters were having a lot of fun in our backyard in the center of Milan! Sadly, we had to find another home for them. Matteo's hen house is very little so he can't keep more than one rooster. And one hen and two roosters—it's a bit complicated—especially for the neighborhood. But now they’re living happily outside the city. We are, of course, looking for some new friends for Jessica. Maybe this spring we'll get some cute chicks!
To acquire a copy of this phenomenal book of photographs at a discounted price.
Because you believe in chickens.
Because you believe in love!
