ACROSS THE RAVAGED LAND | NICK BRANDT.
THE NEW WORK OFFERS A DARKER VISION OF A WORLD STILL FILLED WITH A STUNNING BEAUTY, BUT NOW TRAGICALLY TAINTED AND FAST DISAPPEARING AT THE HANDS OF MAN.
The Photo is the culmination of more than a decade of work, during which time populations of elephants, lions, and other large mammals have fallen precipitously. Over those years, the acuity of Brandt’s vision and his attachment to his subjects have intensified. His images of animals resonate with a simple idea: That the sentient creatures in his portraits are not so different from us and have an equal right to live.
In addition to his starkly powerful animal portraits, Brandt explores new themes, as humans make an appearance in his work for the first time in the form of the rangers, whose work it is to protect the animals. He also “repopulates” the epic landscape with remains of animals that he finds or introduces, including hunters’ trophy heads looking out over the lands where they once roamed, and preserved birds and bats calcified in soda lakes, appearing to pose for their portraits, alive again in death. http://www.nickbrandt.com/portfolio.cfm?nK=14260&nS=6
