Small Big Things

‘Small Big Things’

Lizzie King

35mm film developed in water from the Irwell River

Small Big Things is a series of analogue photographic works inspired by a passage from the book ‘Birds Art Life’ by Kyo Maclear. In the book she references how such small acts create such big change, “…small birdsongs that rise above the noise of the city.”

The images in this series are of Kersal Wetlands a relatively new area created for flood protection and hosting a wildlife reserve especially for nesting birds. There are no fences in this area people are asked to keep to the path away from the birds to allow them to be free from disturbance. It is a small act that people are asked to do but it has a big impact allowing the wildlife to thrive. The images in Small Big Things are all taken from the path as the images try to capture and contain the expanse of land onto a piece of film. The film has then been developed in the water from the Irwell River which runs to the side of the nature reserve and during heavy rainfall floods over into the land.The birds may not be visible in the small images but the land is all about them. Allowing them to live, reproduce, and thrive in a safe and environmentally appropriate area as we humans watch from the path surrounded by their birdsong.