Nick Brandt

- In what way does your chosen piece for HRW reflect 2020?

As most of us are aware, we are witness to a tragic sixth ‘great’ extinction - the Anthropocene. It is happening before our eyes.

This photo was taken in 2015 but of course applies more than ever now.

The life-size panel of the group of elephants was placed in a location where they used to roam several decades ago. Meanwhile, the homeless people in the photo are also swept along by the relentless tide of ‘progress’.

I’m stating the obvious, but I guess it needs to keep being repeated: that in destroying nature, we will also ultimately destroy ourselves. A healthy natural world is essential for the well-being of all humanity, but most of all, for the rural poor, who typically, are those most impacted by environmental degradation and destruction.

However, instead of being angry and passive, let us be angry and active. Events like this auction for HRW, multiplied by a thousand like this, means many can contribute to mitigating the damage and improving life on earth for all.

BIO

Nick Brandt is an English photographer (b. 1964) whose themes always relate to the disappearing natural world, before much of it is destroyed by mankind. In Inherit the Dust (2016), in a series of panoramas, Brandt recorded the impact of man in places where animals used to roam, but no longer do. In each location, Brandt erected a life-size panel of one of his unreleased animal portrait photographs, placing the displaced animals on sites of explosive urban development, new factories, wastelands and quarries. Brandt has had solo gallery and museum shows around the world, including New York, London, Berlin, Oslo, Stockholm, Paris and Los Angeles. He is co-founder of Big Life Foundation, fighting to protect the animals and ecosystem of a large area of Kenya and Tanzania.

www.nickbrandt.com Instagram: @nickbrandtphotography

This artwork is unframed and located in Los Angeles, USA. WILLAS contemporary will facilitate artwork release within 21 days after payment. Can be picked up by the buyer, or shipped at the buyer´s expense.