Diana Cervantes

Visual Journalist

The Lady of the Pigeons

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Location: Brooklyn, NYC

Nationality: Hispanic

Biography: Diana Cervantes is an Independent Visual Journalist based in New York City and her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cervantes focuses on long-form visual narratives in conservation efforts, the environment, unique intimate bonds between humans... MORE

Focus: Photographer, Photojournalist, Researcher, Travel, Environment, Documentary, Creative, Photography, Portraiture, Freelance, Animals, Impact, Assignments, Conservationist, Fellow, Multimedia Journalist, Newspapers, Storyteller, Climate, Feature Writer, Feature Journalist, Long Form Reporter, Feature Stories, Wildlife, Wildspaces, Conservation, Community, Sustainable Travel, Nature, Reportage, Visual Journalist, Visual Storyteller, Visual Storytelling

Tina Piña Trachtenburg, self na...igeons. Brooklyn United States

Tina Piña Trachtenburg, self named Mother Pigeon, stands for a portrait on top of her apartment's rooftop in Brooklyn, NYC. The pigeons surrounding her are her flock and cares for them daily feeding and offering them water. She has fostered a special relationship with them, some are generational pigeons, whose parents she cared for years ago. Her dress which she made herself, flies up due to the gust of wind from the hundreds of pigeons taking flight around her. Mother Pigeon has been caring for the pigeons of NYC since the 1980s. This project focuses on capturing the special bond she shares with the pigeons. Brooklyn United States

Mother Pigeon takes a nap after...e said. Brooklyn United States

Mother Pigeon takes a nap after a day of working on art work. Her art is heavily inspired by pigeons which are also featured in her clothing, head dresses, drawings, paintings and on walls in her apartment. “I definitely get a lot of my inspiration from them in my fashion...I'm always dressing up for the pigeons because they are the first ones that see me in the morning,” she said. Brooklyn United States

Pigeons gather outside Mother P...!" Brooklyn United States

Pigeons gather outside Mother Pigeon's kitchen window. Although Mother Pigeon feeds the pigeons on the rooftop sometimes she does in her apartments windowsills. She has also trained the pigeons to follow her to a nearby park in the winter where she feeds them to protect them from hawks and due to having restrictions placed by her landlord during COVID. The pigeons recognize her and follow her. Mother Pigeon can often be heard saying, "We are going to the park! Come Eat!" Brooklyn United States

Papalo sitting on top of a shel... flock. Brooklyn United States

Papalo sitting on top of a shelf in Mother Pigeon's bedroom the day before her release to the rooftop flock. Brooklyn United States

Mother Pigeon approaches a carr... flock. Brooklyn United States

Mother Pigeon approaches a carrier where Papalo is placed to be released to the rooftop flock. Brooklyn United States

A pigeon from Mother Pigeon...gradual and extremely painful.

A pigeon from Mother Pigeon's rooftop flock is tended to by her caring hands as she tries to remove an embedded string from their toe. Among lead poisoning pigeons also suffer from losing their toes to embedded strings, hair, laces etc. When the pigeon is left alone without removing the object the loss of the limb is gradual and extremely painful.

Mother Pigeon places seed on th...e snow. Brooklyn United States

Mother Pigeon places seed on the windowsill of her bedroom window on a snowy morning if February. This ensures the pigeons seed is not lost in the snow. Brooklyn United States

Squishy Face among some of Moth... Square Park. New York City USA

Squishy Face among some of Mother Pigeon’s handmade felt pigeons that she sells at Union Square Park. New York City USA

Detail of a feather wedged in a...ooftop. Brooklyn United States

Detail of a feather wedged in a pipe leading up to Mother Pigeon's apartment rooftop. Brooklyn United States

Mother Pigeon lays out in the s...arlier. Brooklyn United States

Mother Pigeon lays out in the sun, the pigeons slowly approach her after they have eaten the seed she laid out for them moments earlier. Brooklyn United States

Mother Pigeon watching her floc...re for you to love and honor.”

Mother Pigeon watching her flock at sunset to protect them from the hawk in the area. It is Mother Pigeon's hope that people can see the beauty of pigeons and treat them with kindness. “It’s like having these little butterflies [referring to pigeons], I mean people love butterflies. But we got these gorgeous, iridescent, beautiful little creatures flying around us all the time, and it’s like there they are for you to love and honor.”

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Public Story

The Lady of the Pigeons

Copyright Diana Cervantes 2024

Date of Work Aug 2020 - Mar 2021

Updated Oct 2022

Topics Animals, Beauty, Conservation, Culture, Culture stories, Documentary, Environment, Essays, Faith, Happiness, Hope, Human-Animal Bonds, Journalism, Motherhood, Multimedia, NYC, Personal Projects, Photography, Photojournalism, Pigeons, Portraiture, Relationships, Religion, Spirituality, Wildlife

This project focuses on capturing the special bond Tina – self named Mother Pigeon – shares with the many pigeons of New York City. Since the 1980's Mother Pigeon has dedicated her life to caring and advocating for these birds who are seen as vermin. From the way she dresses, to her artwork it is all driven by her passion for pigeons, whom she views as equals. She cares for a flock of nearly 200 on the rooftop of her apartment in Brooklyn feeding them and tending to their needs. Which is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the believed 4 million pigeons that call NYC home. This project's importance lies in creating an understanding of human to animal relationships and the need to understand how to coexist together. Whether it is in a sprawling urban area like NYC or in the suburbs, if we do not begin to foster an understanding of symbiosis, we may not change the course of our planet. I believe that it is in sharing unique tangible stories that will help us foster hope, sympathy, conversation and action. Often, we are bombarded with how we are different, how much pain there is, that we forget to look to those who have already established this way of living—for guidance.