exhibition preparation material including annotated contact sheets, darkroom test strips, manipulation experiments and notebook pages
How does one show something that no longer exists?
Over the course of its history, our planet has undergone five mass extinction events - the so-called Big Five. The Anthropocene may witness a sixth.
This time, a single species may be to blame for the collapse of biodiversity. Humans have altered 75 % of land and 66 % of marine environments. A third of the land’s surface is devoted to food production, and a third of marine fishstocks are being harvested to unsustainable levels.
Through eight stories, this exhibition explores how humans have left their mark on the world’s natural biodiversity. Photography usually shows what is in front of a lens; here, the images look at what is missing from the picture.
Each photograph was shot on black & white film then printed by hand, using darkroom manipulation techniques to affect the resulting image.