Tremor

Developed between Ireland and Belgium, Tremor investigates the intimate dynamics of falconry—an ancient practice shaping distinctive relationships between humans and birds of prey. Rafter’s focus extends beyond falconry itself, examining the cultural frameworks through which the natural world is collectively perceived. The project’s title is drawn from J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine (1967), in which he writes: “I came late to the love of birds. For years I saw them only as a tremor at the edge of vision.” Throughout these images, a visual strategy of abstraction is adopted—the work is deliberately situated nowhere. While subtle references to the Irish landscape emerge, the birds remain geographically untethered. This ambiguity foregrounds the unknowability of the natural world: the bird is rarely fully revealed, almost never entirely present on the page. The presence of the falconer is suggested only through discreet human traces— metal anklets, handmade hoods, telemetry trackers. Inverted images further destabilise orientation, shifting the experience from passive aesthetic observation to a more critical mode of looking. Temporality is central to the work, which functions as a kind of time capsule, inviting viewers into a world that is slowly disappearing. Language is deployed as a strategic tool: an index anchors the images, offering historical and critical insights and inviting the reader to assemble meaning through fragmentary clues. This layered presentation functions like a puzzle, resisting passive consumption and foregrounding the research dimension of the work.