This Empty World

In a series of photographic panoramas shot in East Africa, photographer Nick Brandt records the impact of man in places where animals used to roam, but no longer do. Each image in the series, which is entitled "This Empty World," is a combination of two moments in time, captured weeks apart, almost all from the exact same locked-off camera position. Initially, a partial set is built and lit. Sometimes. such as with a dead forest, it is actually the complete set. Weeks, even months follow, whilst the animals that inhabit the region become comfortable enough to enter the frame. Once the animals are captured on camera, the full sets - bridge and highway construction sites, a petrol station, a bus station and more - are built by the art department team. In all but a few of the photos, the camera remains fixed in place throughout. A second sequence is then photographed with full set, and a large cast of people drawn from local communities and beyond. The final large-scale prints are a composite of the two elements.