Amateur Photographer (2019-04-13)

10 13 April 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Alsoout now

Thelatestandbestbooksandexhibitions

from the worldof photography

DeutscheBörsePhotography

FoundationPrize 2019

ThePhotographers’Gallery16-18Ramillies

Street,LondonW1F7LW;visitwww.

thephotographersgallery.org.uk

Nowin its22ndyear,theDeutscheBörseprizeis

oneof thebiggestin thephotographiccalendar.Past

winnersincludethelikesof PaulGraham,JuergenTeller,

RinekeDijkstraandRichardBillingham.Theresults

canbecontroversial,butit’salwayswortha visit.

Thisyear’snomineesincludeMagnumveteran

SusanMeiselas,whohasbeenshortlistedforherwork

in Kurdistan;LaiaAbril,forherunapologeticinsights

intothehistoryof abortion;andMarkRuwedel,whose

black& whiteprintsexploretheAmericanlandscape.

Finally,ArwedMessmerinvestigatestheRedArmy

Faction,otherwiseknownastheBaader-Meinhof

Group.Thewinnerwillbeannouncedon 16 May.

DeutscheBörsePhotographyFoundationPrize

2019 is at ThePhotographers’ Gallery until 2 June.

Ailsa McWhinnie

© MARK RUWEDEL

©
NCK

BRANDT

© NICK BRANDT

This Empty

Wor ld

By Nick Brandt, Thames & Hudson, £45, 120 pages, hardback, ISBN 978-

L

egendarywildlifephotographer

NickBrandtdoesn’tdothings

byhalves.Hisalmost20-year

photographiccareerhas

producedsomeof themosticonic,

thought-provokinganddisturbing

conservationphotographyin theworld.

Hisprojectsshowuswhattheworld

mayverywellbelikeif humanity

continuesalongitspathof destruction.

Hislatestbook,ThisEmptyWorld, depicts

a worldwherehumanshaveinvaded

everyavailableinchof theplanet,leaving

nothingforthespacespreviously

occupiedbyanimals.

Assuch,in a setof extremelypowerful

images,heshowshowhumansand

animalshavetocoexist.Shotonlocation

in localMaasaicommunitylandin Kenya,

thephotographsaremadeupof two

momentsin time,capturedfromthe

samelocked-offcameraposition.

It alwaysstartswiththeanimal.A partial

set is built, with the following weeks and

monthsbeinga waitinggameforlocal

animalsto becomecomfortableenough

to entertheframe.Oncetheanimalswere

photographed,Nick’steambuilttherest

of thesetin theexactspot– withtypical

humanelements,suchaspetrolstations,

bridgeconstructionsitesandbusstations

thatareinvadingtheEastAfricanlandscape.

Andoncetheimagewascaptured,sets

wererecycledwithalmostzerowaste,and

noevidenceof theshootnowremains.

Theoverallaimof eachcomposite

imageis thatultimatelybothhumans

andanimalswillbethevictimsof the

annihilationof themodernworld.Aswell

asthehauntinglypowerfulanddetailed

images,there’salsofascinatingbehind-

the-scenesinformation.

Thisbookmakesforextremely

uncomfortableviewing– butsoit should.

It maybealltoosoonbeforethese

imagescanbecapturedwithouttheneed

forfalsesets– a warningtous all.

★★★★★Amy Davies

‘Savannahwith

Lion & People, 2018’

BOOK

BOOK

TeAhiKā

EditedbyRafalMilach,£35, 200 pages,Dewi

LewisPublishing, hardback, ISBN 978-1-

911306-39-

TheWhanganuiRiver,whichflowsfrom

themountainsof NorthIslandin New

Zealandto theTasmanSea,is seenasan

ancestoraswellasa sourceof material

andspiritualsustenancebytheMaori.

Thisuniquestretchof wateris recognised

asa livingbeing,withitsownlegalrights,andthe

tribesthatlivein itsmiddleandupperreachesdraw

theirname,theirspirit,andtheirstrengthfromit. In

1996 MartinToftspentsixmonthswithMaorihere,

exploringtheirphysicalandmetaphysicalrelationshipto

theriverthroughhislens.Atthetime,theMaoriwere

in theprocessof returningtotheirancestralland,but

theimpacthemadewassogreatthathewasgiven

theMaorinamePoumaPokai-Whenua. Twentyyears

laterToftreturnedtotheRivertorekindlethespiritual

kinshiphehadexperienced,andthisclothboundbook

is theresult.It wasshortlistedfortheKasselDummy

Award in 2018.★★★★★ Tracy Calder

by Nick Brandt

EXHIBITION

TypicalAmerican

House,Nevada

TestSite,

YuccaFlat,

AppleII

TestSite,

19 9 5

‘RiverofPeoplewith

Blind Rhino, 2018’