If you’ve shopped in our studio before, most likely you’ve heard us use the expression “ethically and sustainably sourced taxidermy” when we discuss our practices. But what do these words exactly mean? As much as I would love to give you a quick bite-sized answer, the reality is these expressions require a much more in depth investigation and are much more complicated than how they might appear at face value. So, in short, this blog, Conversations of Ethics in Taxidermy, we will be continuing this conversation through a few blogs over the next couple of months to better grapple the alternative avenues of thought through its complexities.
To begin the conversation, I reached out to Jazmine Miles-Long, a renowned taxidermist known for her gorgeously tender birds and sleek display, who is based in Hastings, UK. When we broached the subject of ethics, she enlightened me on how these concepts played an enormous role in her practice. “I will only create work that I hope shows respect to the animals and so by calling myself an ‘ethical’ taxidermist, I see this as a holistic approach to my taxidermy practice,” she tells me.
Image courtesy of Jazmine Miles-Long
When Miles-Long began her practice in 2007, she notes that not many people were using these expressions in reference to the origins of their specimens. “To be honest, [back then] all I could find was hunting trophy taxidermy, which was not what I wanted to create, so I decided to use the word ethical to make myself feel more comfortable with the profession I had decided to dive into.” She adds, “I find that sometimes other taxidermists can be offended by the term ‘ethical taxidermy’, because it's almost as though I am claiming I am better than another taxidermist who might have different ethics. This is not what I think, but I simply use the word ‘ethical’ to spark conversation and to give myself a set of boundaries that mean I find it comfortable to do my job.”
“When I first got started in taxidermy (before I decided on the ‘ethical’ label), I was twenty years old and one of my neighbors, who had heard I was doing taxidermy, wanted to help and offered me a pair of mallard ducks. I got really excited but when the ducks arrived, I realized they had been shot. In my naivety, I had no idea that they would have been shot and I cried so much over how it made me feel to see and hold them. The ducks were not shot for me, they were part of a hunting party, but I knew I didn't want anything like this in my freezer again.”
