Andreas Feininger photographer...Angel Wings.

A dear friend of mine emailed me this snapshot of the black and white photograph by Andreas Feininger from the Berkshire Museum of Art. 

 

Andreas Bernhard Lyonel Feininger (27 December 1906 - 18 February 1999) was an American photographer and a writer on photographic technique. He was noted for his dynamic black-and-white scenes of Manhattan and for studies of the structures of natural objects.

Little did she know I had just been introduced to them this weekend as Angels Wings. I love them.

Pholadidae, known as piddocks or angelwings, are a family of bivalve mollusc similar to a clam; however, they are unique in that each side of their shells is divided into 2 or 3 separate sections. Furthermore, one of the piddock's shells has a set of ridges or "teeth", which they use to grind away at clay or soft rock and create tubular burrows. The shape of these burrows is due to the rotating motion of the piddock as it grinds the rock to make its home. The piddock stays in the burrow it digs for the entirety of its eight-year lifespan, with only its siphon exposed to take in water that it filters for food. When the piddock dies and leaves an empty tubular burrow, other marine life such as sea anemone, crabs and other molluscs may use the burrow.