At Paris Photo 2023, Flowers Gallery will present the work of photographers Edward Burtynsky, Scarlett Hooft Graafland, Nadav Kander, Janelle Lynch, Shen Wei, and Michael Wolf. The works on view represent the connection between place and collective identity; reflections on the contemporary relations between the self and the natural world; and performative connections between the body and space through photography.
Dutch photographer Scarlett Hooft Graafland’s (b. 1973) practice is characterised by site-specific interventions in remote landscapes. She emphasizes the ‘natural strangeness’ of the locations by staging surprising juxtapositions of everyday objects and materials using analogue processes. The works in this presentation were created among the conical rock sites of the Göreme national park in Cappadocia, Turkey, where the actions and gestures of the figures create a surreal encounter with the landscape. A businessman appears to run through the air on a frantic course to nowhere; while a female figure in a white bridal gown floats above the scene like a cloud, creating a powerful statement about female agency. Hooft Graafland describes her work as a critique of the contrast between culturallyformed habits and rules within the seemingly unruly context of nature, asking questions about our place in the world and the actions that shape it.
Michael Wolf’s (b. 1954-2019) works explore how place might shape collective identity, often calling into question how the landscape is used and adapted. On view is a work by the late German photographer from his celebrated Architecture of Density series, in which Wolf documented the hyper-density of the urban environment of Hong Kong, and discreet adaptations by its inhabitants. This image has been released from the Michael Wolf estate’s archives and has not been exhibited before.
Nadav Kander (b. 1961) made several voyages along the course of China’s Yangtze River, travelling up-stream from mouth to source over a period of three years. The photograph on display at Paris Photo was not included in the original release of the resulting body of work, Yangtze - The Long River. The image incorporates body and space to show the ever-changing environment, while having a timeless quality.
For over 40 years, Edward Burtynsky’s (b. 1955) work has reflected on the human imprint on the planet, and this selection presents a sneak peek of a pair of compelling images from two new forthcoming series relating to fossil fuel extraction and its far-reaching impacts.
On view will be Coal Terminal #1, Kooragang Coal Terminal, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, 2022, featuring one of the largest coal ports in the world; and Coast Mountains #15, Receding Glacier, British Columbia, Canada, 2023, featuring stark deglaciation across this mountain range as a result of global warming.
Burtynsky reflects: “Recent reports on the world’s remaining glaciers provide sobering news. Estimates are that most of Western Canada’s glaciers will be lost to melting within the next 80 years. By the end of this century, they could all be gone. My daughters, who are in their 20s, will not be looking at the same world when they are my age. These images are a reminder of what’s being lost — relics of ancient ice and an essential resource for ecosystems and freshwater in these parts of the world.”
