Black Japanese Bantam Cock Class: Single Comb Clean Legged Other Than Game Bantams Origin: Japan
Black Japanese Bantam Cock Class: Single Comb Clean Legged Other Than Game Bantams Origin: Japan. Tamara Staples
SHARE

Click here to enter the gallery

Who’s the fairest fowl of all? In her new book The Magnificent Chicken, Brooklyn-based photographer Tamara Staples makes a strong case for the purebred Gallus gallus domesticus, from the ultra-dignified Black Langshan Cockerel to the eccentric Beaded Buff Laced Polish Frizzle Bantam Hen. If you have never been to a poultry show, you’ve probably never even imagined chickens as diverse and stunning as the ones in Staples’ portraits.

The book begins with an interview and essay by This American Life host Ira Glass. “What happens when you try to treat a chicken they way we treat humans, even if it is just for the length of a photo shoot?” Glass writes. “What happens, it turns out, is you learn just what the thin line is that divides human beings from birds.”

See the gallery for 11 prize-winning barnyard beauties from The Magnificent Chicken.

Beaded Buff Laced Polish Frizzle Bantam Hen Class: Single Comb Clean Legged Other Than Game Bantam Origin: Eastern Europe

Beaded Buff Laced Polish Frizzle Bantam Hen

Beaded Buff Laced Polish Frizzle Bantam Hen Class: Single Comb Clean Legged Other Than Game Bantam Origin: Eastern Europe
Self Blue Belgian Bearded D'Anvers Cockerel Class: Rose Comb Clean Legged Bantams Origin: Europe

Self Blue Belgian Bearded D’Anvers Cockerel

Self Blue Belgian Bearded D’Anvers Cockerel Class: Rose Comb Clean Legged Bantams Origin: Europe
White Leghorn Bantam Cock Class: Single Comb Clean Legged Other Than Game Bantams Origin: Italy

White Leghorn Bantam Cock

White Leghorn Bantam Cock Class: Single Comb Clean Legged Other Than Game Bantams Origin: Italy
White Showgirl Bantam Cockerel Class: Feather Legged Bantams Origin: Japan, Hungary

White Showgirl Bantam Cockerel

White Showgirl Bantam Cockerel Class: Feather Legged Bantams Origin: Japan, Hungary
Black Japanese Bantam Cock Class: Single Comb Clean Legged Other Than Game Bantams Origin: Japan

Black Japanese Bantam Cock

Black Japanese Bantam Cock Class: Single Comb Clean Legged Other Than Game Bantams Origin: Japan
Porcelain Belgian Bearded D'Uccle Bantam Pullet Class: Feather Legged Bantams Origin: Germany

Porcelain Belgian Bearded D’Uccle Bantam Pullet

Porcelain Belgian Bearded D’Uccle Bantam Pullet Class: Feather Legged Bantams Origin: Germany
Silver Duckwing Modern Game LF Hen Class: All Other Standard Breeds Origin: Great Britain

Silver Duckwing Modern Game LF Hen

Silver Duckwing Modern Game LF Hen Class: All Other Standard Breeds Origin: Great Britain
Salmon Faverolles Bantam Cockerel Class: Feather Legged Bantams Origin: Faverolles, France

Salmon Faverolles Bantam Cockerel

Salmon Faverolles Bantam Cockerel Class: Feather Legged Bantams Origin: Faverolles, France
Blue Cochin Bantam Pullet Class: Feather Legged Bantams Origin: China

Blue Cochin Bantam Pullet

Blue Cochin Bantam Pullet Class: Feather Legged Bantams Origin: China
Black Langshan Cockerel Class: Asiatic Origin: China

Black Langshan Cockerel

Black Langshan Cockerel Class: Asiatic Origin: China
Belgian Bearded D'Uccle Mille Fleur Bantam Cock Class: Feather Legged Bantams Origin: Germany

Belgian Bearded D’Uccle Mille Fleur Bantam Cock

Belgian Bearded D’Uccle Mille Fleur Bantam Cock Class: Feather Legged Bantams Origin: Germany
Photographs by Tamara Staples Essay by Ira Glass $24.95 from <a href="http://www.chroniclebooks.com/the-magnificent-chicken.html">Chronicle Books</a>

The Magnificent Chicken: Portraits of the Fairest Fowl

Photographs by Tamara Staples Essay by Ira Glass $24.95 from Chronicle Books