Nick Brandt (b. 1964) is an English photographer whose themes relate to the disappearing natural world, before much of it is destroyed by mankind. His current work, SINK/RISE, is the third chapter in The Day May Break series and focuses on South Pacific Islanders impacted by rising oceans. The people in these photos, photographed underwater in the ocean off the coast of the Fijian islands, are representatives of the many people whose homes, land and livelihoods will be lost in the coming decades as the water rises. We are excited to show select images from this series in July 2024.
From 2001 to 2018, he photographed in Africa. In his trilogy, On This Earth, A Shadow Falls Across The Ravaged Land (2001-2012), he established a style of portrait photography of animals in the wild similar to that of the photography of humans in studio setting, shot on medium format film, attempting to portray animals as sentient creatures not so different from us. 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. This Empty World (2019) 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 also often helplessly swept along by the relentless tide of ‘progress’. Each image is a combination of two moments in time, captured weeks apart, almost all from the exact same locked-off camera position: A partial set is built and lit. Weeks follow whilst the wild animals in the area become comfortable enough to enter the frame. Once the animals are captured on camera, the full sets are built. A second sequence is then photographed with a cast of people drawn from local communities.
Brandt has had solo gallery and museum shows around the world, including New York, London, Berlin, Stockholm, Paris and Los Angeles. Born and raised in England, he now lives in the southern Californian mountains. He is co-founder of Big Life Foundation, fighting to protect the animals and ecosystem of a large area of Kenya and Tanzania.
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Akessa Looking Down II
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Akessa and Maria on Sofa
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Ben and his Father Viti
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Paul
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Petero by Cliff
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Joel and Petero on Seesaw
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Qama by Cliff
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Onnie by Cliff I
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Qama by Reef
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Onnie by Cliff II
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Onnie and Keanan on Seesaw
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Joel and Sosi
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Joel by Cliff
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Joel on Bed
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Serafina and Keanan on Bed
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Serafina at Table
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Serafina Holding her Brother Keanan I
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Akessa and Maria
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Akessa in Chair
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Akessa Looking Down I
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Ben on Sofa
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Joe and Wane
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Joe
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Joe D and Joel
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Joe in Chair
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Joel
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Keanan on School Desk
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Maria
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Maria and Onnie
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Maria by Reef
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Maria on Table
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Mika
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Niu
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Paul and Kristine
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Petero in Coral Field
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Serafina
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Serafina and Keanan on Chair
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Serafina Holding her Brother Keanan II
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Lion Circle, Serengeti
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Wasteland with Lion
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Underpass with Elephants and Glue Sniffing Children
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Thomas and Emma, Zimbabwe, 2020
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Road with Elephant
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Richard and Okra, Zimbabwe, 2020
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Richard and Grace, Zimbabwe, 2020
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Railway Line with Lioness
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Quarry with Lion
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Patrick and Harriet on Ground, Zimbabwe, 2020
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Lioness on Mound, Maasai Mara
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Lioness Against Dark Foliage, Serengeti
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Lion Roar, Maasai Mara
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James and Fatu, Kenya, 2020
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Halima, Abdul and Frida, Kenya, 2020
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Fatuma, Ali & Bupa, Kenya, 2020
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Factory with Giraffe
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Factory with Elephant
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Elephant Train, Amboseli
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These Haunting Underwater Photos Portray Climate Change in a New Way
Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN, 4 November 2023 -
These haunting photographs bring to life the stories of how humans and animals are affected by climate change
Perspective by Dee Swann and Nick Brandt, The Washington Post, 8 September 2022 -
NICK BRANDT’S PORTRAITS FROM THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
Shana Nys Dambrot, LA Weekly, 14 October 2021 -
LOOK CLOSER: Nick Brandt, Speaking for the Planet
Rob Wilson, Frames, 14 October 2021 -
Forced from home: the humans and animals under threat – in pictures
The Guardian, 23 September 2021 -
To convey the real threat to wildlife, photographer Nick Brandt built fake human habitats in Africa
Liesl Bradner, Los Angeles Times, 17 February 2019 -
Iconic Animals ‘Return’ to Lands They Once Roamed
Alexa Keefe, National Geographic, 19 April 2016 -
Elephants in Dust
Peter Canby, New Yorker, 6 March 2016 -
A Portrait of Lost Habitats in Africa
Alexandra Wolfe and Sarah Squire, Wall Street Journal, 4 March 2016