Nest: Rescued Chickens at Home

How do we decide which animals are family and which are food? Why are we surprised to see a rooster gazing out the kitchen window or a hen studying herself in the mirror? After all, chickens are present in many homes, as flesh and eggs, but not as individuals with personalities of their own.In early 2017, photographer Janet Holmes met a hen suffering from reproductive illness at the Wild Bird Fund in New York City, where she volunteered as a caregiver. During her search to find a permanent home for the hen after she was discharged from the Funds clinic, Janet Holmes discovered a network of people (primarily women) who turn their homes into sanctuaries for rescued chickens. She decided to make portraits of the chickens and their rescuers to honour both the birds who had suffered so much before their rescue and the people who invested so much love, time, and money caring for them.

Janet Holmes grew up in British Columbia, then fled to cities (Toronto, London, Paris and New York) and pursued a career as a lawyer for many years. A few years ago, she began volunteering with animal rescue groups. She picked up a DSLR at the same time and decided to learn how to use it. Naturally, she pointed her lens at animals … and was captivated. Janet completed the International Center of Photography’s One-Year CE Track Program in 2015, and now devotes much of her spare time to portraiture of rescued animals. Janet was recognized by Photolucida as a Critical Mass Top 200 Finalist in 2017 and 2018, and her series on rescued chickens received The People's Choice Award for The Fence 2018. She has exhibited her animal portraits in juried exhibitions in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Janelle Lynch (b.1969) is an American large-format photographer shortlisted for the Prix Pictet 2019 for her series Another Way of Looking at Love . Her photographs are in museum collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of the City of New York; New York Public Library; Brooklyn Museum; and George Eastman Museum.

Kathy Stevens is the Founder and Executive Director of Catskill Animal Sanctuary. Kathy is the author of Where the Blind Horse Sings and Animal Camp, two critically and popularly acclaimed books about the work of Catskill Animal Sanctuary; she’s also a contributor to books, podcasts and articles on animal sentience, animal rights and veganism.

Michelle Carrera iis the Co-Founder of bothChilis on Wheels and Casa Vegana de la Comunidad. She is also the Co-Founder of Latinos for Animal Protection and has served as an organizer for the Vegan Latinos in NYC Meetup- a group that fundraises for Latin American vegan organizations. She is also a board member for The Micro-Sanctuary Movement.