Sometimes the artist sees a beauty and symmetry that passes the rest of the world by.
Photographer Cameron Bloom is one of these artists. Following a near-fatal fall which left his wife paralysed from the waist down, searching for beauty in his life would have been a formidable task. And yet, as his book Penguin Bloom shows, a wonderful, unexpected, bizarre beauty indeed prevailed.
In the form of a bird.
Penguin Bloom is their adopted magpie, you see. Joining the Bloom brood of three young boys, Cameron, and wife Sam; Penguin was nursed back to health after falling from his nest as a chick.
As Sam Bloom recovered from her accident, battling depression and her new life in a wheelchair; little Penguin battled his way back to health as well. Together, they found exactly what they needed to survive: love.
Penguin has 100k followers on his Instagram account, and it’s not hard to understand why: the pictures – taken by Cameron – need to be seen to be believed.
There’s Penguin cuddling up to the boys in bed, Penguin pecking a kiss right on the lips, and Penguin hanging out in a jumper’s hood like a makeshift hammock. The photography is simply extraordinary, and a timely reminder that even the darkest cloud has a silver lining.
“The Bloom family thought they were saving little Penguin the magpie,” says our very own Mia Freedman. “But in an unexpected and extraordinarily moving way, Penguin saved them right back.”
ABC Books will release Penguin Bloom today; featuring Cameron’s stunning photography, and a narrative written by New York Times bestselling author Bradley Trevor Greive.
You can find out more at the ‘Penguin Bloom’ website, here.
Video by: Nia Nguyen