A barred owl entered my life in late August when it was struck by a vehicle near my home. The raptor’s body was mostly intact, but its life force had passed. I retrieved its rain-soaked remains from the road and brought it home to photograph.

At the time, I didn’t know that the owl was to join me in an ongoing exploration of perception. Its body became the vehicle for examining the visual aspects of reality as it is perceived through the senses. The photos reveal a fragility of form, expressed in sodden feathers, one shuttered eye, the other marble-like and vacant—an open orb that no longer perceived light.

That glassy eye now invites us to consider what it is we believe we perceive as we observe what is assumed to be “real.” 

Is the owl’s delicate ear canal depicted here only an opening to capture sound? Could it be seen as something more—a passageway perhaps?  Are those talons just tools for perching or capturing prey, or razor-sharp reminders of our own impermanence?

My interest in these considerations has resulted in the digital exhibit, “PeepHole: Playing with Perception” currently underway at the Union Digital Gallery in Narrowsburg, NY (www.narrowsburgunion.com/union-digital-gallery).

Earlier this year, I had recorded the conversations of our local owls as they created a cacophony of duet calls nearby. In the exhibit, these are entwined with the haunting refrains of Frederic Chopin’s Waltz in B Minor, Op. 69 and a probing narrative that raises questions and invites viewers to seek their own answers.  I hope you can experience the exhibit before it concludes on Saturday, October 28.

Meanwhile, may the photos shared in this column stir your sense of wonder and respect for this magnificent species and inspire you to learn more about the barred beauties in our backyards (www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/overview).