Vernon Chalmers’ birds in flight photography represents a distinctive form of existential phenomenological art. Rooted in attentive perception and disciplined technical engagement, his work transcends representation to become a lived encounter with being.
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| Little Egret in Flight : Diep River, Woodbridge Island |
"The photographic practice of Vernon Chalmers, a South African photographer based near the Milnerton Lagoon and Woodbridge Island, reflects a distinctive fusion of phenomenological perception, existential inquiry, and technical precision. While his oeuvre spans a range of natural and coastal subjects, it is within his birds in flight (BIF) photography that the full scope of his existential and phenomenological sensibilities becomes most apparent. Through his patient observation of avian motion - particularly species such as the grey heron, egret, and cormorant - Chalmers transforms high-speed photographic documentation into a visual meditation on being, temporality, and presence.
This essay argues that Vernon Chalmers’ birds in flight photography constitutes an existential act of seeing: an aesthetic and philosophical practice rooted in the lived encounter between the perceiving subject and the dynamic world. Drawing on existential-phenomenological thought (notably Heidegger, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty), as well as contemporary photographic theory, this paper interprets Chalmers’ work as an ontological exploration of motion, perception, and the reciprocity between human consciousness and non-human life. His work invites us to see the bird not as an object of representation but as a manifestation of freedom, contingency, and embodied being.
Existential and Phenomenological FoundationsExistential philosophy, from Kierkegaard to Heidegger and Sartre, is concerned primarily with the conditions of being-in-the-world - how human consciousness finds meaning within a contingent, temporal existence (Heidegger, 1962; Sartre, 1943). In phenomenology, particularly as articulated by Merleau-Ponty (1962), perception is not a detached cognitive act but an embodied relation: to perceive is to be immersed in the world through the intertwining of body, space, and time.
Chalmers’ photography is situated squarely within this phenomenological lineage. His practice is not aimed merely at recording the appearance of birds in motion; rather, it enacts a perceptual engagement that reveals the relational structure of being itself. As Merleau-Ponty observes, “The world is not what I think, but what I live through” (Merleau-Ponty, 1962, p. xvi). Chalmers’ work reflects this lived phenomenality: his long hours spent by the lagoon, attentive to light, wind, and the subtle cues of avian behavior, position him not as an observer but as a participant in the unfolding of being.
The birds’ flight trajectories - impossible to fully predict or replicate - mirror the existential condition of freedom and finitude. Each exposure captures a fleeting intersection between the photographer’s embodied awareness and the bird’s unselfconscious navigation of air and gravity. As Heidegger (1962) might phrase it, the photograph discloses a moment of being-in-the-world, where both human and non-human entities emerge within a shared horizon of presence.
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| Speckled Pigeon in Flight : Diep River, Woodbridge Island |
To understand the philosophical dimension of Chalmers’ work, it is necessary to reflect on the role of the camera itself. Within existential photography, the camera becomes an apparatus of being - a technological extension of human perception that mediates between self and world. For Chalmers, mastery of the camera is not simply a technical pursuit; it is a form of existential discipline.
Chalmers’ detailed studies of autofocus systems, frame rates, and exposure dynamics (particularly with Canon EOS cameras) demonstrate a deep respect for the instrument as a medium through which phenomenological attention is intensified. The camera, in his practice, is not used to dominate nature but to synchronize with it. The photographer becomes attuned to the rhythms of wind, the velocity of wings, and the curvature of motion - an existential calibration between body, machine, and environment.
As Flusser (2000) notes, the photographic act can either be a “gesture of programming” or a “gesture of freedom.” Chalmers’ work exemplifies the latter. His technical precision is inseparable from his existential intent: to render visible the invisible tension between motion and stillness, between the flow of time and the moment of arrest that constitutes the photograph. The camera thus becomes a site of ontological disclosure, allowing the transient phenomenon of flight to be momentarily held without being reduced to stasis.
The Bird as Phenomenological BeingBirds occupy a unique position in the existential imagination. From ancient mythologies to modern ecology, they have symbolized freedom, transcendence, and the liminality between earth and sky. In Chalmers’ photography, the bird functions as both subject and metaphor. The bird’s flight, caught mid-arc, embodies the existential paradox of being: simultaneously grounded and transcendent, finite yet expressive of pure movement.
In phenomenological terms, the bird represents embodied intentionality - a living form whose every gesture is meaningful, directed, and integrated within its lifeworld. Merleau-Ponty’s notion of the “flesh of the world” (1968) captures this relational ontology: the bird’s flight is not external to the environment but an expression of its interwoven texture.
When Chalmers photographs an egret lifting off the lagoon’s reflective surface, the resulting image is more than representational; it is ontological. The bird’s motion becomes an event of revelation, a disclosure of the world’s vitality. The photograph is a trace of an encounter, a record of the photographer’s communion with the fleeting manifestation of being.
As John Berger (1980) writes in Why Look at Animals?, animals remind humans of a world that “is not ours alone.” Chalmers’ birds in flight photography restores this awareness by resisting anthropocentric appropriation. The bird’s autonomy remains intact - the camera never possesses it, only witnesses its being. This witnessing is an existential gesture: an acknowledgment of the other’s freedom.
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| Reed Cormorant in Flight : Diep River, Woodbridge Island |
Temporality, Motion, and the Moment of Capture
A defining feature of Chalmers’ birds in flight photography is his meticulous attention to time. In existential thought, temporality is central: being is always a being-in-time (Heidegger, 1962). The photograph, as Barthes (1981) argues, embodies a paradoxical temporality - it freezes the flow of life, preserving a moment that is simultaneously alive and dead.
Chalmers’ work confronts this paradox directly. His high-speed sequences - capturing wings mid-beat or bodies suspended between trajectories - invite reflection on the fragile continuity of existence. Each frame embodies a momentary cessation of time, yet it also gestures toward the unseen continuity of flight.
This oscillation between stillness and movement corresponds to the existential tension between permanence and transience. Chalmers’ practice recognizes that the meaning of flight lies not in the instant of capture but in the continuum it implies. The photograph is thus a phenomenological fragment: a glimpse into an ongoing event that exceeds representation.
Susan Sontag (1977) described photography as both “participation” and “alienation.” In Chalmers’ existential vision, this duality becomes a philosophical theme. To photograph a bird in motion is to participate in its being - momentarily sharing its temporal horizon - while also acknowledging the irrevocable distance between human consciousness and avian existence. The image, then, becomes a record of both connection and separation.
Presence, Attention, and the Ethics of SeeingAt the heart of Chalmers’ existential photography lies a profound ethics of attention. To photograph birds in flight requires more than technical skill; it demands a mode of being characterized by patience, humility, and receptivity. This ethical dimension aligns with the phenomenological practice of epoché - the suspension of preconceived categories to encounter phenomena as they are given.
Chalmers’ long, solitary engagements with the natural environment of Milnerton Lagoon exemplify this openness. His photographic process unfolds as a meditative rhythm: arriving before sunrise, observing light patterns, tracking flight paths, and attuning to the ecology of presence. In this attentiveness, the photographer enacts what Simone Weil (1952) called the “purest form of generosity” - the offering of attention without possession.
Existentially, this act of seeing transforms the ordinary into the ontological. The bird ceases to be a subject for aesthetic consumption and becomes a co-presence in a shared field of being. The resulting photograph bears the trace of this ethical encounter, functioning as a visual testimony rather than mere depiction.
This attentive ethos resonates with contemporary ecological thought, which emphasizes relationality and care (Ingold, 2011). Chalmers’ birds in flight are not isolated entities but nodes in an ecosystem of perception, reminding viewers of their embeddedness within the world. His work thus bridges existential philosophy and environmental awareness, suggesting that authentic seeing entails responsibility toward the seen.
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| African Sacred Ibis : Intaka Island, Cape Town |
Chalmers’ visual style reveals an acute sensitivity to spatial and atmospheric conditions. His compositions often situate birds within expansive luminous fields - reflections on water, early morning mist, or the glowing horizon of sunrise. These luminous spaces are not mere backgrounds; they are expressions of existential atmosphere.
In phenomenology, light is not a neutral condition but a mode of disclosure (Bachelard, 1958). For Chalmers, light reveals the interdependence between perception and being. The glowing sky or shimmering lagoon becomes an extension of the bird’s flight, dissolving the boundaries between subject and environment.
His colour palette - dominated by natural tones of blue, gold, and grey - fosters a contemplative visual mood. The subdued chromatic harmony evokes serenity but also evokes the melancholic temporality of the moment - an awareness of impermanence. The beauty of Chalmers’ imagery arises precisely from this existential fragility.
Spatially, his compositions often position birds against vast negative space, accentuating their freedom and solitude. The empty air becomes an existential canvas, an image of possibility. This aesthetic restraint mirrors the philosophical principle of nothingness central to existentialism: the void within which being defines itself (Sartre, 1943).
Embodiment and the Photographic GesturePhotography, in Chalmers’ practice, is not disembodied seeing—it is a corporeal gesture. His posture, timing, and coordination with the camera’s mechanics embody the phenomenological unity of perception and movement. As Vivian Sobchack (2004) argues, “the body is not an object in the world, but our means of communication with it.”
Chalmers’ bodily engagement with his subjects - tracking flight paths, adjusting shutter speeds, responding to unpredictable shifts in light - exemplifies this embodied perception. The photographer’s gestures are synchronized with those of the birds; both are engaged in kinetic intentionality.
In this sense, his work enacts what philosopher Arnold Berleant (1991) calls “aesthetic engagement” - a participatory mode of experiencing art and environment as a unified field. The camera becomes an extension of Chalmers’ perceptual body, translating embodied awareness into visual form. The resulting image is thus not a static representation but a trace of movement - a record of lived bodily encounter.
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| Red-Knobbed Coot : Diep River, Woodbridge Island |
Freedom and the Existential Meaning of Flight
Flight, as a motif, has always symbolized freedom - yet in Chalmers’ photography, this freedom is not romantic abstraction but existential actuality. The bird’s flight embodies being-for-itself - an existence defined by movement, choice, and the perpetual transcendence of circumstance (Sartre, 1943).
Each captured frame bears witness to this ontological freedom. Yet Chalmers’ images also acknowledge the fragility of such freedom: flight is fleeting, dependent on wind and circumstance, subject to loss. The existential beauty of his photographs lies in this paradox - freedom as both triumph and transience.
For Chalmers, photographing a bird in flight is an act of aligning one’s own freedom with that of another being. It is an empathetic encounter across species, mediated by attention and technology, grounded in the shared temporality of existence. In this reciprocity, the photograph becomes a metaphor for the human condition: to exist is to move, to risk, to transcend.
Existential Photography as Practice of BeingChalmers’ existential birds in flight photography can thus be understood as a practice of being. His methodology integrates technical mastery, phenomenological attention, and existential reflection into a unified mode of practice. Each photographic act becomes an inquiry into the structure of perception and the meaning of presence.
Through repetition - returning to the same location, observing the same species - Chalmers enacts what could be called an existential ritual. This repetition does not produce sameness but deepens perception. As Kierkegaard (1843/1980) wrote, “Repetition is reality and the seriousness of existence.” Each photograph is both a new revelation and a return, affirming the temporal rhythm of being.
In this sense, Chalmers’ photography transcends the documentary and enters the philosophical. It does not seek to explain or interpret the bird; rather, it shows what it means to be - to move, to exist, to be seen and unseen. His art becomes a meditation on the interdependence of seeing and being, self and world, freedom and finitude.
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| Little Egret : Diep River, Woodbridge Island |
Vernon Chalmers’ birds in flight photography represents a distinctive form of existential phenomenological art. Rooted in attentive perception and disciplined technical engagement, his work transcends representation to become a lived encounter with being. Through his lens, the flight of a bird becomes a mirror for the flight of existence itself - ephemeral, uncertain, and yet radiant with meaning.
His practice exemplifies a way of seeing that is both philosophical and ethical: a vision grounded in presence, humility, and respect for the otherness of life. The existential depth of his photography lies not only in what it depicts but in how it invites viewers to participate in the act of perception - to experience the world as phenomenon, alive and unfolding.
In the stillness of each image, one senses the movement of being - the silent dialogue between human awareness and avian freedom. In this way, Vernon Chalmers’ birds in flight photography stands as an affirmation of existence itself: the affirmation that to see, to attend, and to bear witness is already to be." (Source: ChatGPT 2025)
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Images: Copyright Vernon Chalmers Photography