GAMEHEAD TAXIDERMY

From A Backward View
by Larry Blomquist

I HAVE BEEN ATTENDING TAXIDERMY COMPETITIONS SINCE THE MID 1970S and doing taxidermy since 1959. This observation has remained consistent throughout the years: non-taxidermists look at our work from the front, as one would expect. A taxidermist, however, will immediately make additional looks from the bottom, sides or back, if possible. We want to see and learn how other taxidermists are doing things.

For the past nine years, my good friend Ken Edwards of Wildlife Artist Supply, and I have combined our talents and efforts to film the annual NTA competition. (I must also mention that every year we have an extremely reliable assistant, Bobby Lofton of Louisiana, who is the annual coordinator for setting up the trade show.) Ken concentrates on capturing every first place mount for the NTA on print film, and I direct my efforts with Kodachrome slide film for future covers, our Gallery, and competition features. Our collective task usually take us into the early hours of Saturday, finishing around 5 o'clock in the morning. It makes for a very long day. Before we can hit the bed, our final task is videoing the major award winners for the award presentations at the banquet that night. This past summer Ken's daughter, Kelly, worked with us throughout the night, recording the photo list of our photography and finally assisting her dad with the videoing.

That left me free to photograph where curiosity usually takes me, the back sides of some outstanding gamehead entries...

...Continued in the Winter 2001 Issue of Breakthrough.

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