The Anatomy of a Chicken 1939

Frederick Sommer made this gelatin silver print titled 'The Anatomy of a Chicken', and boy, is it a doozy! It's giving me all sorts of weird vibes. I mean, what’s going on in Sommer's head? There’s the chicken head, eyes wide, with its insides all strewn about. I imagine Sommer in his studio, meticulously arranging these parts, maybe even finding beauty in the grotesque. It reminds me of some of my own studio experiments—messy, a little disturbing, but always searching for a new way to see. He's not just documenting; he’s composing, pushing the boundaries of what a photograph can be. Artists are always riffing off each other, even if they don't realize it. Sommer's playing with ideas that the Surrealists were also obsessed with—the body, decay, and the unsettling nature of reality. It's all a bit strange, but that’s what makes it so compelling. It’s a conversation, and we're all invited to join in.