Inherit the Dust

Inherit the Dust by Nick Brandt, published by Edwynn Houk Editions in 2015, is a visually striking exploration of the environmental changes affecting East Africa. This first edition features 120 pages of Brandt’s powerful photography, capturing the stark contrast between urban development and the natural world. Through a series of epic panoramas, Brandt documents the impact of human activity on landscapes once inhabited by wildlife, using life-size panels of animal portraits to highlight their absence in these altered environments.
Readers will find that Inherit the Dust not only showcases Brandt’s renowned animal portraiture but also includes essays that address the pressing conservation issues in East Africa. The photographs depict scenes where animals have become mere ghosts in their former habitats, reflecting a broader commentary on the consequences of environmental degradation. The book combines art and critical discourse, making it a significant contribution to discussions on nature, wildlife, and the ongoing challenges of environmental conservation.
Official synopsis Publisher
Three years after the conclusion of his trilogy, On This Earth, A Shadow Falls Across the Ravaged Land, Nick Brandt returns to East Africa to photograph the escalating changes to the continent’s natural world.
In a series of epic panoramas, Brandt records the impact of man in places where animals used to roam, but no longer do. In each location, Brandt erects a life size panel of one of his animal portrait photographs, setting the panels within a world of explosive urban development, factories, wasteland and quarries.
The people within the photographs are oblivious to the presence of the panels and the animals featured in them, who are now no more than ghosts in the landscape. Some of the animals in the panels appear to be looking out at these destroyed landscapes with sadness, as if lamenting the loss of the world they once inhabited. By the end, we see that it is not just the animals who are the victims in this out of control world, but also the humans.
Inherit the Dust also includes plates of the original portraits of the animals that are featured in the life-size panels, the unique emotional animal portraiture for which Brandt is recognized.
There are also two essays by the artist: a text about the crisis facing the conservation of the natural world in East Africa, and behind-the-scenes descriptions of Brandt’s elaborate production process, with accompanying documentary photographs.
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