Gideon Medel: Portraits in Ashes - Ealing Climate Week at Perceval House

An exhibition from internationally-renowned photographer, artist and activist Gideon Medel.

The Portraits in Ashes documents the consequence of global temperature rises and the unprecedented increase in the extremity of wildfires around the world. As Medel explains: “I choose not to document the burning fires, but rather to seek out their aftermath, the traces left behind on lives and landscapes.

The Portraits in Ashes series is the central narrative thread in this body of work. Framed by the skeletons of their burnt homes my subjects pause and engage the camera with dignity and resilience, inviting us to engage with the devastated world that surrounds them. To create coherent images and tell this story effectively within such visual chaos, I have found that I need to compose the images with extreme precision.

In this repeated act of portraiture, I am trying to create a systematic typology of climate change."

Gideon Mendel is a world-renowned photographer, artist and activist.

His forty years of socially engaged photographic practice amount to a profound act of witnessing. His partisan projects are made with the intention to be of use, to both record the world we live in, and also to change it.

With compassion and visual ingenuity he has captured the human experience behind some of the most significant issues facing his generation; from the struggle against apartheid in South Africa to the tragedy and hope of HIV/AIDS through to our global climate emergency.

https://gideonmendel.com/

This event is part of Ealing Climate Week (Sep 19-27) with a number of events taking place at Perceval House and across the borough throughout the week.

Find out more about Ealing Climate Week.