Martina Albertazzi

Italian photographer. I work between Italy and the U.S. I am currently based in Yucca Valley, CA. I am available for assignments all around Southern California and beyond.
  
The Desert Taxidermist
Location: Yucca Valley, California
Nationality: Italian
Biography: I am an Italian independent  photographer currently based in Southern California. I use portraiture and landscape photography to investigate contemporary and social issues that I care about. Born and raised in Rome, Italy, I have spent... MORE
Editors Only Story
The Desert Taxidermist
Copyright Martina Albertazzi 2024
Date of Work Mar 2021 - Ongoing
Updated Apr 2023
Topics Animals, Conservation, Desert, Documentary, Editorial, Environment, Loss, Photography, Photojournalism, Portrait, Portraiture, Still life, Wildlife
To the naked eye, the desert is a barren landscape devoid of life. One local taxidermist is trying to change that perception, however, by celebrating...death. In the summer of 2022 I started a collaboration with Roadkill Reno, a young taxidermist based in the Mojave Desert.

Reno works with ethically-sourced specimens - naturally-found or donated - and their projects help show that while the desert ecosystem is sometimes hidden from view, it is teeming with life.

For centuries taxidermy has been strictly linked to the practice of hunting and keeping wildlife as trophies. Lately, that has been changing.

This ongoing collaboration with Roadkill Reno aims to bring the desert to life by documenting a sustainable taxidermy that doesn't take advantage of the animals in the fragile ecosystem that we live in, but instead honors them.
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The Desert Taxidermist by Martina Albertazzi
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