50 photographers aimed their cameras at birds around the planet and “The High Life: Contemporary Photography and the Birds” showcases their avian artistry at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in downtown Sarasota.

The high-flying selections by curators William Ewing and Danaé Panchaud include art photos, wildlife photos, freeze-frames of nature, and human imitations, both ridiculous and sublime. The feathered friends on view dive, swoop, perch, and preen. Their flight paths go inside the Museum of Botany & the Arts and outside throughout the gardens.

Inside or out, these photos are all recent. There's a reason for that. Birds have long been a favorite subject for illustrators. Photographers not so much. Why not? The main explanation is technical.

Birds fly and move very, very quickly. So t

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