Galapagos is a working title for an Artist book, an ongoing research project from 2017. María Dalberg collaborates with the publisher Uns. The book will include poetry and photographs.
A tiny little bird, Red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) is the central focus. The bird migrates from Iceland to the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. In 2019, a scientific research was published, mapping down the birds travels from Iceland to the Pacific Ocean. The structure of the book is based on these GPS locations, showing the birds travels.
For María's writings, she studies the red-necked phalarope behaviour and how they communicate by filming them for hours. She focuses on the bird's unique rhythmical movements and translates them into a textual rhythmical structure.
In winter the red-necked phalarope dwells far out of the sea in the Eastern-Pacific Ocean, forming massive flotilla, hundreds to thousands of individuals. In February 2017, María traveled from Iceland to the Galapagos Islands located at the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. She asked her self if some of these red-necked had been to the Galapagos Islands, possibly lost from their group?
At the Charles Darwin Research Station Library, she found a few resources pinpointing few locations were scientist saw the red-necked phalarope. A flock of birds was at La Lobería lagoon, San Christobal Island 22nd of November, 1997. A single bird found at Tortuga Bay beach, Santa Cruz Island, 18th of September 1962 and another one at the same beach, the 14th of March 1975. These two little birds are now kept at the MECCD collection in Madrid as specimens. A single bird found in the lagoon by the flamingos in Puerto Villamil, Isabela Island in 2000.
María Dalberg photographed these three locations using her medium format Mamiya film camera. She was interested in exploring these locations through the film, creating unique and textures. She used both black and white and color film.
Her next step is to photograph these specimens, found in 1962 and 1975 at Tortuga bay.
She is interested in looking at the red necked phalarope migration in a context of the Vietnam war. She will focus on this peaceful bird migration in contrast to violent acts of war.
Some photographs are documents of the Vietnam war.