![]() ![]() Conservation relies so much on the support of the community. “That is what, so far, we have managed to do with the Big Life Foundation in the Amboseli/Kilamanjaro ecosystem in Kenya. Despite this, Brandt is hopeful: “I find hope in knowing that with the right people and circumstances, ecosystems can be successfully protected,” he said. Unfortunately, like so many places on earth, Lake Natron is at risk of environmental degradation from human development. This causes the creatures to calcify as they dry, and thus they wind up perfectly preserved.” “The water has an extremely high soda and salt content-so high that it would strip the ink off my Kodak film boxes within a few seconds. Like birds smashing into plate glass windows, they crash into the lake,” Brandt said. “No one knows for certain exactly how die, but it appears that the extremely reflective surface of the lake water confuses them. In reality, the high concentrations of minerals in the water calcify and preserve them after they die. Courtesy of Edwynn Houk Gallery, New YorkĬontrary to some reports about the photos, the creatures that happen to die in and around Lake Natron are not instantly turned to stone. “These are creatures I would have never otherwise been able to take portraits of, of course.” “The notion of portraits of dead animals in the place where they once lived drew me to photograph the creatures in the “Petrified” series,” he said. Brandt immediately envisioned the animals as they were before they met their demise. Walking the shores of Lake Natron, a caustic salt and soda lake in Tanzania, Brandt came across the “calcified” bodies of creatures that had died and become preserved thanks to the unique chemical environment. Other series include Brandt’s highly acclaimed, large-scale series Inherit the Dust, in which life-size panels featuring endangered and threatened species were placed within the landscapes where the animals used to roam-terrain that has since been ravaged by man. Brandt says he turned to film photography because he felt “photography, rather than moving images in narrative form” allowed him to express his feelings about the “sentience of animals and the disappearance of the natural world in a more personal, less compromised way.” He began shooting exclusively with film (this series was shot using Kodak TMax 100 film, for example). He fell in love with Africa in 1996 while directing the music video for Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” and from there, shifted his focus to Africa and still photography. Courtesy of Edwynn Houk Gallery, New Yorkīefore turning to photography, Brandt had a high-profile filmmaking career. ![]() “This was the impetus behind the photographs of the lion, buffalo and kudu trophy heads: portraits of decapitated creatures killed by trophy hunters, appearing alive again in death, looking out over lands where once they lived and roamed in multitudes.” “So much of the African savannah, once teeming with wild animals, is now denuded to near-emptiness,” Brandt said. It was not, however, the vista that took his breath away, but instead the evidence of what was missing, lost, and destroyed: As British photographer Nick Brandt traveled through East Africa, he often found himself breathless at the scenes in front of him. As isolated as the lake is (it wasn't even discovered by Europeans until 1954), there are no protections in place for the lake or its threatened flamingo population.įollow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+. The serenity of Lake Natron - and its flamingo population - are threatened by a proposed hydroelectric power plant on the Ewaso Ngiro River, the main river feeding the lake. As shallow lakes in a hot climate, their water temperatures can reach as high as 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius). Both are terminal lakes that do not drain out to any river or sea they are fed by hot springs and small rivers. ![]() Lake Natron is one of two alkaline lakes in that area of East Africa the other is Lake Bahi. The flamingos' nests are built on small islands that form in the lake during the dry season. During breeding season, more than 2 million lesser flamingos ( Phoenicopterus minor) use the shallow lake as their primary breeding ground in Africa.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |