NICK BRANDT: THIS EMPTY WORLD
The series addresses the escalating destruction of the natural world at the hands of humans showing a world where overwhelmed by runaway development there is no longer space for animals to survive.
The people in the photos, never portrayed as the aggressors, are also often helplessly swept along by the relentless tide of ‘progress’. Environmental degradation will almost always affect poor rural people the most, due to the exhausted natural resources upon which they rely.
Each image is a combination of two moments in time captured weeks apart almost all from the exact same locked-off camera position. Photographed in Kenya the project is shot mostly at night with constructed sets and an enormous cast. For the very first time Brandt’s new work is in colour and digital medium format.
Bus Station with Elephant and Red Bus, 2018
Archival pigment print
Bridge Construction with Elephants & Workers at Night, 2018
Archival pigment print
River of People with Elephant at Night, 2018
Archival pigment print
Bridge Construction with Elephants and Excavator, 2018
Archival pigment print
Bridge Construction with Giraffe & Worker, 2018
Archival pigment print
Charcoal burning with giraffe and worker, 2018
Archival pigment print
Bridge Construction with elephants and workers at night, 2018
Archival pigment print
Bridge Construction with elephants and workers in day, 2018
Archival pigment print
Bridge Construction with terrified elephant baby, 2018
Archival pigment print
Bridge Construction with elephants retreating, 2018
Archival pigment print
Charcoal burning with giraffe and workers, 2018
Archival pigment print
Construction Trench with baby elephant and workers, 2018
Archival pigment print
Highway bank construction with baby Zebra, 2018
Archival pigment print
Highway Bank Construction with elephant mother and baby, 2018
Archival pigment print
Highway Bank Construction with elephants and workers, 2018
Archival pigment print
Highway Bank Construction with giraffe and workers, 2018
Archival pigment print
Petrol Station with elephant and kids, 2018
Archival pigment print
Petrol Station with elephant and water truck, 2018
Archival pigment print
Petrol station with elephants and kids, 2018
Archival pigment print
River bed with elephants and building, 2018
Archival pigment print
