An abandoned hearse with sprawling vines etched into its front window dominates this photograph by Alen MacWeeney. On the far left, decorative glass flowers sprout from an urn as the only “living” depiction of foliage in this dreary landscape. Here, the wild borrows from the manmade. Nature creeps across the hearse in the form of moss, reclaiming the forgotten funereal vehicle for a new purpose—an improvised home for hens. Emerging from the muted background are the bright whites of the chickens’ feathers, as though they have been photographed mid-ruffle. Hens in a Hearse comes from MacWeeney’s series Irish Walls + Fabled Landscapes, which captures everyday scenes in the mythologized Irish countryside. Each image has an eerie, fantastical atmosphere but none are so apparent as Hens in a Hearse. This photograph begs many questions while providing few answers. Where did the hearse come from and how did it get there? And how did the hens?

— Riley Nelson, VU student