Necessity to remain hidden from “others” and the world is at the core of Purdom’s photographic project From certainty to doubt, which looks at the multifaceted ways in which concealment, camouflage, mimicry and ambiguity play as much a part in the lives of humans as they do the animal kingdom.

The hide, one of 11,000 situated over Northern Italy, is designed for the concealment of hunters from migrating birds passing overhead. The birds are lured to their death by the red autumn berries, water and a more sinister method: the song of a live decoy bird, which is placed in the cage shown in the photograph. The decoy birds, held captive in darkened cellars over summer, are brought outside for the hunting season. For the bird, sudden exposure to light signals spring and a desire to sing; the trap is set for the unsuspecting migrating birds.