Ashes and Snow
Canadian photographer Gregory Colbert collaborated with animal species around the world to create Ashes and Snow, a groundbreaking exhibit of photographs and films that explores humanity’s relation to the natural world. His remarkable sepia-toned images glimpse a world in which humans live in profound harmony with the rest of the animal kingdom. His poetic style — more art-house film than nature documentary — is unique among wildlife photographers, and it exerts a powerful, almost hypnotic effect on the viewer, awakening a primal feeling of kinship with the natural world. As the New York Times notes, “The power of the images comes less from their formal beauty than from the way they envelop the viewer in their mood.”
Part of the exhibition’s brilliance comes from its permanent home within an impermanent structure, the Nomadic Museum, a portable gallery space designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban and made entirely of shipping containers and other recycled or reusable materials. Dawn and I saw the unusual structure during our 2006 vacation, even photographed it, without realizing what lay within. Had we known, we certainly would have enjoyed the experience, described by many as almost spiritual.
Since its Venice premiere in 2002, “Ashes and Snow” has attracted more than a million visitors as it travels the world. The museum debuted in New York in 2005, subsequently opened in Santa Monica, California and Tokyo, Japan, and will travel indefinitely to ports of call with no final destination. Colbert considers the exhibition a work in progress, and plans to develop his “21st-century bestiary” for years to come.
The website is best viewed using Flash and takes a little practice to navigate. Moving the mouse across a page, for instance, reveals thumbnails which, when clicked, display additional images. The work is truly unique and worth spending the time necessary to experience.
Thanks for the “heads up”, Michael!
Doug
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Reader Comments (8)
A bit over done for my taste. Photographs, which are not even numbered or limited edition, begin at $200,000 Euros (yes, "start at").
Laughable when compared to signed, numbered originals from "real" artists.
I've never felt as ripped off by an "art" exhibit in my life. As slick and shallow as a pretty Nike ad with a bunch of faux "spirituality" sprinkled on top. And it costs an outrageous $15?!
Can't you see beyond your own criticisms and draw from the images the meanings, the potentials, the myriad things with which they are bursting? All you can cull from those remarkable images are your negative comments? Have you never heard the axiom, "We do not see the world the way IT is; we see the world the way WE are"?
I thought the exhibit was beautiful and touching. It brought tears to my eyes. Some of you are over intellectualizing the exhibition and the photography.
My irritation with Colbert's exhibition is his allusion to a time when animals and humans lived as one and his hope to see us return to that utopia. I am familiar with "staging" and these photos are all staged. The animals are performing in an unnatural manner. Never have humans interacted with animals in the manner to which Colbert would have you believe we need to return. Nor have they even so interacted amongst themselves.
Furthermore, all the humans are posed with their eyes closed, ignoring the fact that the eyes lead to the soul. Again, it's kitchy but unnatural.
I will admit that the posings are beautifully staged. In that respect, I find them artful and enjoyable, perhaps even beautiful. My objection lies in the marketing of them as somehow spiritual and on some higher plane connecting human and animal souls.
Sometimes you need to take things in "emotionally" rather than "literally". Personally, I was mesmorized by the whole presentation. I thought it was beautiful and engaging.
I'll bet some of you criticize even the Mona Lisa! There is much beauty in the world if you are open to see and appreciate it. Were the photographs "staged"? I don't know or care. Ashes and Snow is a beautiful exhibition, and the photographs and presentation are mesmerizing.
"...looking through the glass dimly... now.
but seen as we are clearly... then."
Ashes and Snow are just what you say...
If you say Yes or No, you are correct.
But isn't that true of all art?
I don't know what you're all looking at. I find the photos beautiful, mystical, amazing in every way. Not having seen the exhibition, I can only imagine the impact it might have on me. But I can see how many people who have attended found it "almost spiritual".