With Pigeon Paradise, Lucas Castel (BE) enters the world of competitive pigeon racing, a sport rooted in the mining regions of Belgium and France in the early twentieth century. The project began in November 2020, when New Kim, a Belgian racing pigeon, was sold at auction for $1.9 million to a wealthy Chinese collector, setting a new world record. The pigeon remains in a luxury loft in Belgium, where it will most likely stay indefinitely. It is unlikely ever to make the journey to China, to fly again, or even serve any purpose beyond breeding.

He examines the relationship between humans and their birds through the lens of competition, business, capitalism and control. Beyond the daily routines of breeding and training, the project reveals the dedication invested in transforming pigeons into elite athletes, selected and shaped for speed, endurance and performance. The sport relies on the pigeons’ extraordinary homing instinct – an ability that remains only partially understood – while humans attempt to measure, refine and exploit its potential through breeding, selection and competition. Alongside care and admiration exists a harsher reality: birds that fail to perform may be discarded or killed, while genetics becomes a central strategy in the pursuit of victory.

Pigeon Paradise reflects on the complex bond between humans and animals, where affection, competition, economic value and domination become intertwined. The book focuses on the pigeon itself: its presence, its physicality and the ways in which it is admired, evaluated and presented. Humans appear only through their hands, handling, examining, and positioning the birds. A sequence of carefully composed poses reveals how pigeons are displayed for auctions and competitions, transforming the bird into both a living creature and an object of fascination. Through these images, Castel questions our confidence in identifying the “ideal” physical qualities of another species and invites viewers to reflect on the ways humans project ideas of excellence, performance and value onto living beings.