Wildlife photographer Nick Brandt: “I photographed animals as people. English photographer Brandt presented endangered animals as dust - Have you ever tried working with color?
Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow presents a new project by the famous English photographer Nick Brandt “Inherit the Dust”. Nick Brandt was born and raised in London. He studied painting and cinematography at St Martin's School of Art and went on to a successful career as a music video director. In the early 90s he moved to the USA, where he worked with Michael Jackson and Moby. In 1995, while filming a video for Jackson's song Earth Song, dedicated to protecting the environment, Nick Brandt found himself in Tanzania for the first time. This trip radically changed Brandt’s life - he fell in love with the nature of Africa and decided to devote himself to photography.
“Very few photographers approach wildlife photography as art photography,” says Nick Brandt. — Most people usually try to capture dramatic moments when an animal is in action, in motion, and do not pay any attention to it at all if it lives its normal life... I try to shoot in such a way that the photographs go beyond the documentary animalistic genre and approach the level of artistic pictures. In order to achieve this, I move away from reportage shooting techniques, and most importantly, I do not use a telephoto lens. Instead, I shoot from a close position, often several feet away."
The very first series of photographs created by Nick Brandt in East Africa in 2000 attracted enormous public attention to his work and the important issues that he raises. In 2004-2006, Brandt's solo exhibitions were held with great success in London, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne and San Francisco.
The Inherit the Dust project was conceived by Brandt in 2014. Previously unpublished portraits of animals were printed in large format and pasted onto billboards that were installed in places where these animals used to live, but now, as a result of human greed and indifference, have disappeared. Nick Brandt then photographed the billboards, combining urban landscapes and animal images into one frame. The exhibition includes 19 photographs with titles that evoke internal dissonance in the viewer: “Garbage dump, cheetah and children”, “Factory and chimpanzees”, “Construction site and rhinoceros”, “Quarry and elephant”, “Road to the factory and zebra”, “ The Railway Track and the Lioness" and others. Photographs of animals, more reminiscent of classic pictorial portraits, inscribed in the frightening landscapes of urban outskirts and industrial zones, emphasize the extraordinary fragility of the world, which is slowly but inexorably disappearing under the influence of man.
“In almost all of the final photographs, the animals on the billboards are virtually invisible to people walking around. Animals have become ghosts in these devastated landscapes. It may be a cliché, but we urgently need to do something. If we continue to fail to act, future generations will inherit the pitiful remnants of a once rich living planet. They will inherit the dust,” says Nick Brandt.
Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow presents a new project by the famous English photographer Nick Brandt “Inherit the Dust”.
Nick Brandt was born and raised in London. He studied painting and cinematography at St Martin's School of Art and went on to a successful career as a music video director. In the early 90s he moved to the USA, where he worked with Michael Jackson and Moby. In 1995, while filming a video for Jackson's song Earth Song, dedicated to protecting the environment, Nick Brandt found himself in Tanzania for the first time. This trip radically changed Brandt's life - he fell in love with the nature of Africa and decided to devote himself to photography.
“Very few photographers treat wildlife photography as art photography,” says Nick Brandt. - Most usually try to capture dramatic moments when an animal is in action, in motion, and do not pay any attention to it at all if it lives its ordinary life... I try to shoot in such a way that the photographs go beyond the documentary animalistic genre and approach the level of artistic ones pictures. In order to achieve this, I move away from reportage shooting techniques, and most importantly, I do not use a telephoto lens. Instead, I shoot from a close position, often several feet away."
The very first series of photographs created by Nick Brandt in East Africa in 2000 attracted enormous public attention to his work and the important issues that he raises. From 2004 to 2016, Brandt had solo exhibitions with great success in London, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne and San Francisco.
The Inherit the Dust project was conceived by Brandt in 2014. Previously unpublished portraits of animals were printed in large format and pasted onto billboards that were installed in places where these animals used to live, but now, as a result of human greed and indifference, have disappeared. Nick Brandt then photographed the billboards, combining urban landscapes and animal images into one frame.
The exhibition includes 19 photographs with titles that evoke internal dissonance in the viewer: “Garbage dump, cheetah and children”, “Factory and chimpanzees”, “Construction site and rhinoceros”, “Quarry and elephant”, “Road to the factory and zebra”, “ The Railway Track and the Lioness" and others.
Photographs of animals, more reminiscent of classic pictorial portraits, inscribed in the frightening landscapes of urban outskirts and industrial zones, emphasize the extraordinary fragility of the world, which is slowly but inexorably disappearing under the influence of man.
“In almost all of the final photographs, the animals on the billboards are virtually invisible to people walking around. Animals have become ghosts in these devastated landscapes. It may be a cliché, but we urgently need to do something. If we continue to fail to act, future generations will inherit the pitiful remnants of a once rich living planet. They will inherit the dust,” says Nick Brandt.
The Multimedia Art Museum (MAMM) has been quiet for exactly two years, since the arrival of the famous American artist, the very capricious Joseph Kosuth. Now history has repeated itself with the sensational English photographer Nick Brandt, who turned out to be so picky that he made half of his employees run around him. Just before the opening day, he changed his mind about opening his exhibition and asked to kick out the visitors from it: for some reason the photographer was afraid of them... And only when Brandt saw the director of the museum Olga Sviblova, his sanity returned and he agreed to present the project “Inherit the Dust.”
These are 19 photographs with contradictory titles: “Garbage dump, cheetah and children”, “Factory and chimpanzees”, “Construction site and rhinoceros”, “Road to the factory and zebra”, “Railway track and lioness”... Brandt photographed animals in Tanzania, published I pasted their portraits in meter formats onto billboards and installed them in those places where these animals once lived, but disappeared as a result of human intervention.
Especially for the current exhibition, Brandt photographed those same billboards, combining urban landscapes with images of animals in one frame. Their photographs are more reminiscent of classic pictorial portraits, inscribed in the frightening landscapes of city outskirts and industrial zones. This is a conversation about the fragility of nature, which is slowly but inexorably disappearing at the hands of man.
Even if they offer me, I will most likely refuse. I decided not to photograph animals anymore, as I am now concentrating on the theory of the extinction of wildlife. I'm trying to figure out how to prevent this. I dedicate my future non-photographic project to this problem, which I will implement in Kenya, where I will go immediately from Moscow. But I can’t talk about plans now, because I’m afraid they’ll be upset.
In the episode “Inherit the Dust” you did not use Photoshop, although many viewers suspect you of doing so. What can you say to them?
I'm not interested in what people say - it's much more important what the works themselves say. When I was making this series, I was shocked at the speed with which nature is being destroyed by the hands of man. I immediately realized that I needed to make the project expressive so that it would catch your eye. So he showed photographs of endangered animals where they once lived. Look at the chimpanzee: the expression on her face conveys melancholy and suffering - the world where she lived has disappeared. By the way, I photographed all the animals in natural conditions.
Were you afraid to photograph wild animals?
No, people scare me more. I prefer the company of animals to them. Photographs show them turning into ghosts amid devastated landscapes. We urgently need to do something. If we do nothing, future generations will inherit the pitiful remains of a once rich living planet. They will inherit the dust.
MK information: Nick Brandt studied painting and cinematography at St. Martin's School of Art in London and made a successful career as a music video director. In the early 1990s, he moved to the United States, where he worked with Michael Jackson and Moby. Soon he found himself in Tanzania for the first time, where he was ordered to shoot a video for Jackson's Earth Song, dedicated to protecting the environment. This trip radically changed Brandt's life - he fell in love with the nature of Africa and decided to devote himself to photography.
The exhibition is supported by Mastercard.
English photographer Nick Brandt goes beyond simply documenting wildlife. His photographs are pastoral and romantic. They talk about the charm of the planet, about majestic animals, about the elusive beauty of the world. His series of portraits of wild animals against the backdrop of gloomy urban landscapes is dedicated to an Africa that no longer exists. The exhibition “Inherit the Dust” was organized by the Moscow Multimedia Art Museum with the support of Mastercard and Ahmad Tea in Russia.
Nick Brandt was born and raised in London. He studied painting and cinematography at St Martin's School of Art and went on to a successful career as a music video director. In the early 90s he moved to the USA, where he worked with Michael Jackson and Moby. In 1995, while filming a video for Jackson's song Earth Song, dedicated to protecting the environment, Nick Brandt found himself in Tanzania for the first time. This trip radically changed Brandt's life - he fell in love with the nature of Africa and decided to devote himself to photography.
“Very few photographers treat wildlife photography as art photography,” says Nick Brandt. - Most usually try to capture dramatic moments when an animal is in action, in motion, and do not pay any attention to it at all if it lives its ordinary life... I try to shoot in such a way that the photographs go beyond the documentary animalistic genre and approach the level of artistic ones pictures. In order to achieve this, I move away from reportage shooting techniques, and most importantly, I do not use a telephoto lens. Instead, I shoot from a close position, often several feet away."
The very first series of photographs created by Nick Brandt in East Africa in 2000 attracted enormous public attention to his work and the important issues that he raises. From 2004 to 2016, Brandt had solo exhibitions with great success in London, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne and San Francisco.
The Inherit the Dust project was conceived by Brandt in 2014. Previously unpublished portraits of animals were printed in large format and pasted onto billboards that were installed in places where these animals used to live, but now, as a result of human greed and indifference, have disappeared. Nick Brandt then photographed the billboards, combining urban landscapes and animal images into one frame.
The exhibition includes 19 photographs with titles that evoke internal dissonance in the viewer: “Garbage dump, cheetah and children”, “Factory and chimpanzees”, “Construction site and rhinoceros”, “Quarry and elephant”, “Road to the factory and zebra”, “ The Railway Track and the Lioness" and others.
Photographs of animals, more reminiscent of classic pictorial portraits, inscribed in the frightening landscapes of urban outskirts and industrial zones, emphasize the extraordinary fragility of the world, which is slowly but inexorably disappearing under the influence of man.
“In almost all of the final photographs, the animals on the billboards are virtually invisible to people walking around. Animals have become ghosts in these devastated landscapes. It may be a cliché, but we urgently need to do something. If we continue to fail to act, future generations will inherit the pitiful remnants of a once rich living planet. They will inherit the dust,” says Nick Brandt.
