This Empty World

Nick Brandt has achieved international renown with his large-scale images of Africa’s native animals. The British photographer combines portraits of animals and humans depicted in epic natural surroundings, with dramatic landscapes shaped by modern-day life, whereby his visual style brings to mind the aesthetics of early twentieth-century portraiture.

Brandt’s latest offering, titled ‘This Empty World’, is the artist’s first colour project. The series, which will go on show at the Fahey/Klein Gallery on 28 February, focuses on environmental destruction, industrialisation and the scarcity of resources. In an elaborate post-production process, the artist merges several photographs and compiles them into profoundly powerful scenes. Shot mostly at night and incorporating specially constructed sets, his finalised images show urban landscapes in which forlorn human figures and displaced animals captivate the viewer’s eye. After the completion of the project, all sets were carefully recycled.

Born in London in 1966, Nick Brandt studied painting and film at the Saint Martin’s School of Art. He moved to the US in 1992, where he directed music videos for artists such as Michael Jackson and Moby. It was while shooting the video to Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth Song’ in Tanzania in 1995 that Brandt fell in love with East Africa and its natural world. He is a co-founder of the Big Life Foundation, along with entrepreneur Tom Hill and the renowned conservationist Richard Bonham. In the year 2000, Brandt began working on his trilogy on East Africa, consisting of the series ‘On This Earth’ (2005), ‘A Shadow Falls’ (2009) and ‘Across the Ravaged Land’ (2013).




For further details visit http://www.faheykleingallery.com [$ red: Fahey/Klein Gallery $]