Sammie Bond, UNDERLAND (PEOPLE 2022)

Underland is a body of work which references the ways in which taxidermy was incorporated into 1800s Victorian era fashion. It draws inspiration from 19th century fashionistas, who wore dead animals on their hats: decorating them with bird wings or even whole bodies of dead birds, as well as mice, and snakes. This roadkill couture was made commercially popular by thousands of upper-class women who wanted dead animals on their headdresses. By the late 1800s this bizarre fashion trend was banned due to the impact bird hunters had, killing millions of wild birds, leading many species to near extinction. Underland pays homage to my weird, wonderful, and bonkers family members who all share this bizarre imagination of a gothic fantasy land. This work is a component of the larger Underland series, an ongoing work which explores other aspects of the macabre through photography. This project was made in our family home in Warrnambool, Victoria with my lovely mother, Julieanne Bond. She was the one who taught me the value of collecting odd and strange things and calling them treasures––something we love to do together.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.