Taryn Simon: Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies

very bird that ever flew in a James Bond film, meticulously recorded by Taryn Simon

In 1936 an American ornithologist named James Bond published the definitive taxonomy Birds of the West Indies. Ian Fleming, an active bird-watcher living in Jamaica, appropriated the name for his novel’s lead character. He found it "flat and colourless," a fitting choice for a character intended to be "anonymous ... a blunt instrument in the hands of the government." In Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies, Taryn Simon casts herself as James Bond (1900–89) the ornithologist, and identifies, photographs and classifies all the birds that appear within the 24 films of the James Bond franchise. 

Hatje Cantz, 2016. Hardcover, 608 pages. 7.8 x 1.6 x 11.6". ISBN: 978-3775740920.