Gold / 2020 / Nature / Sky

Murmurations

Starling murmurations form abstract landscapes in the sky in a sublime musical rhythm. Tens of thousands of starlings fly in swooping, intricately coordinated patterns. This ballet is executed as a perfect choreography, the birds manage uncertainty while also maintaining consensus. Starlings accomplish this by paying attention to a fixed number of their neighbors in the flock, regardless of flock density — seven, to be exact. In following this role of seven, the birds are part of a dynamic system in which the parts combine to make a whole with emergent properties — and a murmuration results.

Johannes Bosgra (b. 1979, NL) has travelled to the most desolate places on earth from a young age to create his contemplative work, from Antarctica to Alaska. He is selected as GUP New Dutch Photography Talent 2020. Bosgra explores the links between classical music and visual art. He has collaborated with composers and musicians such as Philip Glass, Maarten van Veen, Ralph van Raat and Feico Deutekom to create gesamtkunstwerke of visual art and classical music. Bosgras work has been exhibited internationally in a.o. Miami, Düsseldorf, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Awards 2020 International Color Awards - Nominee in Fine Art for Trees by Bosgra
2019 GUP New Dutch Photography Talent 2020
2019 Winner of the finale of the talent development project for visual artists Verhalen in het Landschap - part of European Capital of Culture Leeuwarden-Friesland
2019 Bomen van Bosgra series selected as one of the best Trees stories by TV program VPRO Tegenlicht
2019 Black & White Spider Awards - Nominee for Stripes
2019 Stripes series featured in the Inspired by Gerhard Richter Collection by Saatchi Art
2019 International Color Awards - honorable mention for Stripes
2018 Selected for the talent development project for visual artists Verhalen in het Landschap - part of European Capital of Culture Leeuwarden-Friesland
2018 International Photography Awards – honorable mention for Echoes from another dimension
2018 Black & White Spider Awards - Nominee for Lago di Braies
2017 International Photography Awards – 3 honorable mentions for Peripety
2017 Moscow International Foto Awards – 2 honorable mentions for Quebec: Water vs. Mountains and for Arctic Light
2017 Black & White Spider Awards - Nominee for Peripety
2016 International Photography Awards – 5 honorable mentions for Arctic Light