Nick Brandt

Polka Gallery presents SINK / RISE, the third chapter of The Day May Break, Nick Brandt’s ongoing global series portraying those impacted by environmental destruction and climate change.

This third chapter focuses on South Pacific Islanders impacted by rising oceans from climate change. Photographed in-camera underwater in the ocean off the coast of the Fijian islands, the local people in these images are representatives of the many people whose homes, land and livelihoods will be lost in the coming decades as the water rises.

« Although they are several meters below the surface, the subjects of Nick Brandt’s mesmerizing photographs do not float or swim. Incredibly, they sit on sofas, stand on chairs, use seesaws, and pose in ways they might on land. The effect is otherworldly, as though the familiar laws of physics have stalled in this strange, liminal zone between land and sea. Sit with these photographs and the others in the series, and the subject’s expressions will change like water. Stoicism becomes resignation. Frustration becomes resolve. In their pensive faces, we can read tenderness, grief, and perseverance »,  writes Zoe Lescaze, in the foreword to SINK / RISE.

Before going to Fiji for the third chapter of The Day May Break, Nick Brandt first travelled in 2020 to sanctuaries and conservancies in Kenya, Zimbabwe (Chapter One) and Bolivia (Chapter Two). In each of those locations, he took portraits of local people — whose lives have been dramatically impacted by climate change-intensified wildfires, floods, cyclones, and extreme droughts — with rescued wild animals. Photographed together, they all appear to share a similar sense of loss.

« Spread across the planet, there is a common link between these countries, explains Nick Brandt. They all are among the many that are the least responsible and the most vulnerable to the climate breakdown. »

Polka Gallery is proud to present, for the first time in France, this original body of work, representing an entirely new approach to climate-conscious photography. Much more than a call to responsibility, Nick Brandt’s images rethink the link between generations which, according to him, is one of the keys to a sustainable future. « We all need to consider the question : Are we being good ancestors?»

A third book with the eponymous title will be published in Spring by Editions Hatje Cantz.

In early 2024, Nick Brandt continues The Day May Break with Chapter Four in Jordan.

Opening Thursday 1st of February from 6PM to 8.30PM