Animal Skulls Come Alive in Ross Feighery’s Remarkable Photographs

Raymond Bandar with his animal skulls. Photo: Ross Feighery

PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT

After more than 50 years of collecting animal skulls, Raymond Bandar opened up his treasure trove of bones for a photography project with Chicago-based photographer Ross Feighery.

BY KAZAD

One of Raymond Bandar’s many animal skulls. Photo: Ross Feighery

SAN FRANCISCO— Unbridled Passion, is the best way to describe Raymond Bandar’s unflinching desire to collect all sorts of animal skulls. For the last 50 years, Bandar has devotedly collected animal skulls, turning his San Francisco home into a treasure trove of bones. Where ever one turns, there is a skull in view.

In his recent photography project, Ross Feighery, a Chicago and Los Angeles-based photographer, takes us into the life of a bone collector, revealing a home filled with skulls. Called the “Bone Palace,” Bandar has more than 7,000 pieces meticulously organized on walls, shelves, and any space he could find. His collection includes coyote skulls, dog skulls, cat skulls, bird skulls, fox skulls, raccoon skulls, and bat skulls. There are also monkey skulls, springbok skulls, vervet skulls, bobcat skulls, mammal skulls, rat skulls, beaver skulls, badger skulls, opossum skulls, and skunk skulls.

A longtime field associate for the California Academy of Sciences, Bandar is a retired high school biology teacher. He began collecting the bones about 1964. While many of the bones came from dead animals that washed ashore along the California coast, others are from expeditions and trades with other collectors around the world.

Raymond Bandar: A Proud Animal Skulls and Bone Collector

Raymond Bandar is a proud bone collector. Each of the portraits taken by Feighery shows a man who finds great pleasure in his collection. In one of the photos, Bandar is captured sitting in front of his collection. Dressed in a striped long-sleeved shirt and pair jeans pants, Bandar shows contentment for his achievement. In another image, he beams with a big smile.

From the portraits, it is clear that getting the space to add more skulls to this collection will be challenging. But as a sign in Bandar’s “Bone Palace” note, “THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE!! OR TWO! OR THREE MORE!! Some of Bandar’s skulls are presently on display in the Skulls Exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences through November 30. You can see more of Ross Feighery’s photographs on Behance.

About Ross Feighery

Ross Feighery is a photographer and director. He specializes in dramatic documentary portraits, conceptual narratives, documentaries, and music videos. Feighery is currently based in Chicago and Los Angeles.

The photography project with Raymond Bandar and his real animal bones is part of his American Character series. The series has taken him to many places across the country, including California, Texas, Ohio, Chicago, Indiana, and West Virginia, documenting the lives of everyday Americans. In the series are teachers, barbers, mechanics, ranchers, the homeless, and artists.