Invitation dilemma (Bluethroat, Biologische Station Hohenau-Ringelsdorf) by Richard Frater

Invitation dilemma (Bluethroat, Biologische Station Hohenau-Ringelsdorf)

Artist

Richard Frater
Production Date

2025
Medium

C-type print, digital scan from 35mm colour film
Size

330 x 220 mm
Credit

Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2026
Accession Number

C2026/1/1/2
Accession Date

10 Apr 2026
Department

New Zealand Art
Classification

Photograph
Collection

Chartwell
Chartwell Notes

Richard Frater’s Invitation dilemma series takes its title from, as he tells Victoria Wynne-Jones, “a phrase ornithologists pass around when referring to the existential threat of glazing: birds are lured toward an attractive habitat that appears to be on the other side of windows, which then draws them to fatal collisions.”

Frater is a keen birder, and his recent practice often explores the overlaps between built and natural environments as they are perceived spatially, visually, and sonically by avian and human co-inhabitants. Frater links the rich diversity of avian vision to the chromatic variations unique to different stocks of photographic film, especially orthochromatic film, which is sensitive to blue and green light but not red. His attentiveness to how birds perceive the world—and, by extension, his reflection on human perception—connects closely to Chartwell’s longstanding interest in the neurological, emotional, and physical processes involved in the appreciation and making of art.