Lyrebird Profile: Iain Stych
As a child, Iain Stych was fascinated by everything in nature. This began a travel bug which led him to working in various countries around the globe taking photographs, including Australia where his nature collection has stretched to hundreds of species, including the lyrebird for which his stunning photograph of the master mimic was used on the official film poster for The Message of the Lyrebird.
Why do you photograph nature?
Photographs have always been a way of trying to capture what I was seeing and feeling - and then sharing it with others. There’s still plenty of room for improving my vision and expressions.
After a few years travelling I started a career as a Zoo Keeper in Scotland, and photography became much more of a daily hobby. I enjoyed over twenty years as a zoo keeper in Edinburgh, Auckland, South Australia and Melbourne working with all taxonomic groups before supervising the Threatened Species programs at Healesville Sanctuary.
Various cameras and lenses have come and gone but with a steady improvement of equipment, and to some degree, my ability to see and capture nature, has become a daily ritual.
In 2007, I moved to the Northern Rivers and started working in bush regeneration. Photographing the diverse life of rainforests to capture the intricately dependent ecosystem has been the highlight of my stills photography career.
What was the creative inspiration for the poster image used for The Message of the Lyrebird?
The inspiration of The Message of the Lyrebird poster image was of course the lyrebird itself. Its unique blend of song, dance, plumage pattern, and camouflage played out in the soft dappled light of the forest understory.
I was very fortunate to find myself in the right place and time (with a camera in hand) to capture this unique image. To witness this magic is more than enough but the privilege to try and photograph such an image is rare.
Why is the lyrebird important to you and why should other people, other than birding enthusiasts, care about the lyrebird?
The lyrebird is important to me because it is such a charismatic and unique species which I've had the pleasure of seeing and hearing in a wide range of forests throughout Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. I associate lyrebird calls with the hours I have spent walking and working in healthy rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests. And over the years, I’ve come to know the lyrebird like the presence of an old friend.
People should care about the lyrebird because it plays a very important role for our forests, adding to the health of the forest floor with its ability of turning over high volumes of leaf litter to aerate and enrich the soils.
As The Message of the Lyrebird captures and shares its unique story, I hope more people discover the importance of this magnificent bird, as well as the priority to protect its environment. For Lyrebirds to thrive, the forest needs to be large and healthy enough to support the complex ecosystem of flora & fauna, which not only the lyrebird requires to survive, but so do we.
Iain’s work, including forest landscapes and some of the birds which lyrebird imitates, can be seen in the 180 page photographic odyssey book The Message of the Lyrebird.
Cover photograph by Iain Stych